


One Is Silver And The Other's Gold

by layeredlikeanonion, mochaaaa



Category: The Mandalorian (LadyIrina AU), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blow Jobs, Chapter 1 takes place when din is younger, Chapter 2 takes place during chapter 1 of hidden & revealed, Deepthroating, Dirty Talk, Edgeplay, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Sex, Established Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue & Regret)/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Established Relationship, Face-Fucking, First Time, Hair-pulling, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Hint of comeplay, Hints of exhibitionism and voyeurism, Kissing, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Mando'a, Multi, Multiple Sex Positions, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolving emotional tension essentially through sex, Rimming, Spitroasting, Switching, Threesome - M/M/M, Time Skips, We created an OC so the boys could have a threesome and we present you, With this, neck kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:34:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24107569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/layeredlikeanonion/pseuds/layeredlikeanonion, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochaaaa/pseuds/mochaaaa
Summary: Just prior to the climax of Rogue One, a young Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin is saved from near-certain death by the Rebel Alliance's Gold Squadron.He meets pilot Rowan Kiindal-Savahou, who gives him the ship that becomes his home- the RazorCrest.They graduate from casual partners to something a little bit more. But after they end on bad terms, Din is certain he'll never see Rowan again.And he doesn't. Until one chance encounter on Sorgan changes that.
Relationships: Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/Original Male Character, Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53
Collections: May The Smut Be With You





	1. Make New Friends...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Touch and Taste](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22789363) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 
  * Inspired by [Hidden and Revealed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599798) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



> edit 05/11~ typo fixed

It had been a standard bounty. Everything about the job seemed in order. The merc from Ran’s network had told Din that he would meet up at Cantra VI before the bounty would be filled for more information. The man had said he wasn’t Guild connected so there would be no trace back if things went wrong, no risk of ruining Din’s chances of making Guild status. He had assured that. Din had been wary to trust the merc, but what choice did he have? The bounty was worth more than Din had ever been paid out before and the allure of credits outweighed the risks in his mind. He was young but he wasn’t _stupid._

What he hadn’t expected, though, was the Imperial blockade of the planet. It had been a goddamn trap all along.

Din exited hyperspace, pressing the customary console commands to keep the outdated engine from overheating upon reentry to normal space, and was greeted with the blood-chilling sight of a Star Destroyer and at least a battalion's worth of cruisers that hovered around it.

Within seconds, the comm panel on his dashboard flashed with a red light that turned his stomach. The Star Destroyer was hailing him. Din ignored the hail and desperately began to turn tail, but the Imps were faster. A squadron of TIE fighters were already deploying from behind the massive ship’s shadow in attack formation.

Din panicked. One lonely ship had absolutely no chance against a whole squad of Imperial TIEs. He had to escape, or die trying.

Every second that passed was another closer to certain doom. Din caught the faint reflection of his _buy’ce_ in the transparisteel and Davarax’s words came to him like a blessing:

“The _Mando’ade_ do not fear death. Nor do they embrace it. As we are both hunter and prey we exist in balance according to the nature of the universe itself. When you stare death in the eye you must not back down, Djarin. But neither should you throw your life away recklessly when you can live to fight another day. With time you will learn to judge wisely. Do so.”

Din nodded. The righteous fury that always followed in the wake of his lost mentor’s words worked like a charm for his mental clarity. Logic told him that he had no chance alone against the squadron of fighters that were almost within weapons range, but he was clever and he was cunning, and had allies who could come to his aid. Din knew what he had to do.

He fired up the sublight thrusters and prepared to fight. The hyperdrive engine needed at least a few minutes of cooldown before it could jump again but the sublights were marginally less temperamental. The first shot from the TIEs rocked his ship only moments after he activated the deflector shield and he made a break for open space away from the blockade. He began on defense, as any good prey should, but he would bide his time until he found an opening.

Between dodging the screaming TIEs that began to pursue him, Din was desperately punching in any and all comm channel codes he could remember. He had obtained many from less-than-reputable sources, some that he had _persuaded_ out of difficult bounties, and some that were only rumored to have any substance whatsoever. One of them was allegedly a secure code used by the Rebel Alliance but he had long since forgotten which string of numbers it was. He hadn’t bothered to check the credibility, simply memorized them in case of an emergency like this. If it turned out that luck was not in his favor, then whoever the channels belonged to wouldn't have to worry about responding to shrapnel floating through deep space.

Another blast knocked him spinning off course and Din was forced to correct before the ship lost total control. He shook his head as his equilibrium was thrown for a curve; the ship had never been much good about its inertial dampeners and attitude control. Ignoring the sudden sickened lurch in his gut, Din yanked at the steering yoke and managed to steer himself upright once more. He was about to attempt another round of keying in the comm channels when his dashboard lit up once more. _A reply._

“Unidentified vessel, how do you know this channel code?” A voice crackled on the line. “You’re not using any known IDs!”

Din didn’t care who this was at that point, as long as they were friendlies he could repay them later.

“Not important! Right now I’m being bombarded by an Imperial blockade and need backup!” Maybe it was the clear desperation in his voice, but the man on the other end of the line took pause to consider Din’s plea.

“How many other ships are with you?”

“None.”

Silence from the other end of the line. Every moment wore away on Din’s nerves as he banked and rolled the ship away from exploding torpedoes and laser cannon shots.

“We’re less than five minutes from your coordinates through hyperspace,” the voice finally said. Din shuddered a sigh of relief. “Hold out for that long and we’ll be there.”

“Okay.” Din replied. The line went silent.

 _Five minutes._ He could do that. 

His ship, however…

The engines shuddered and screamed with every turn, fighting against how hard Din was pushing them. The flight console rattled violently as he tried to steer clear of the blasts but Din ignored it as he fought for his life and nervously checked the chrono.

 _Four minutes._ He swore time was moving slower than it should. Maybe it was the adrenaline talking. He pushed the sublight engines again and focused on survival. All is a game of predator and prey. He checked again.

 _Three minutes._ TIE fighters were difficult to destroy alone, but the one thing his ship had was maneuverability. It was small and quick and Din employed every tactic he could think of to get the Imp fighters off his back, even making up a few on the spot to surprisingly good results. His eyes flicked down to the console as he soared through the billowing debris of two TIEs he had just tricked into colliding with each other.

 _Two minutes._ Back on defensive as the TIEs regrouped and went in for the kill. His deflector shields were weakening fast; warning lights and alert sirens wailed for his attention and he tuned out the noise in favor of quick thinking. He punched the engines again and when the TIEs pursued behind him Din sharply cut the gas and let the Imp fighters fly right ahead of him before pushing forward once more and aiming his sights on the closest TIE. Three fighters fell against his fire before the formation turned their sickly green lasers back on his ship.

 _One minute._ Din's breath froze in his throat. There were too many, far too many to handle, they won’t come in time, he was in over his head, what was he thinking?! Damn Ran and his traitorous network of backstabbers and saboteurs—!

Two TIEs on the far right flank of the formation exploded as a shower of red laser fire. Startled from his panic, Din leaned against the steering yolk and craned his neck out into the bubbled periphery of the viewport. His _buy’ce_ knocked against the transparisteel as he attempted to identify the source of his saviors’ fire.

A squadron of Rebel Y-wing fighters flew into view, laser cannons running hot and dangerous as they engaged with the TIEs. Din breathed a heavy sigh of relief and sank back into his seat. 

"You still alive?" The pilot on the other end of the line asked, lighthearted humor clear in his voice despite the crackling interference. “The cavalry's arrived.”

"For now," Din said, urging his ship to join in the safety of numbers between the Rebel fighters. "Mind if I duck in here?"

"Hell yeah, go ahead. Your ship has more holes than blue milk cheese, how are you still standing?" 

"I've been asking myself the same thing."

The pilots called in fighter formations and battle strategies that Din knew nothing about but he followed them to the best of his ability and soon the TIE fighters were nothing but rubble floating through space.

"They're gonna be sending in a second wave of TIEs if we don't jump to hyperspace soon. Your engine still operable?" The pilot sounded anxious to get on his way, probably finally noticing the Star Destroyer and its smaller but no less dangerous satellite ships looming over the planet below. There was no doubt that they hadn’t noticed a squadron of Rebel fighters aiding this lone ship. The quicker they leave, the better.

Din checked his hyperdrive status and his navi-computer. Both were frazzled but seemed like they had been spared the worst of the damage. "Yeah. I hope."

"Hope is all we've got for now. Here, follow these coordinates with us. We're stopping at temp base before flying out again; that can give you a breather away from Imperial eyes."

"Gold Eight, did you really just give an unknown vessel our coordinates?" An angry voice that Din had yet to hear jumped into the comm line just as the code flashed on his screen.

"Copy, Gold Leader. What else are we supposed to do, leave him stranded here with a kriffed-up ship and Imps breathing down his neck?"

"You leave him on his way, Gold Eight. The base is _not_ a waypoint station and giving away the location to any random civilian now means that it's potentially compromised. Base Commander is not gonna be happy with that."

"We'll talk this over later. For now it's a man's life on the line, not to mention the second wave of TIEs that'll be deployed any second now. Unless you want to scoot on over in your cockpit to give him some room to abandon ship," Gold Eight laughed at what Din could only assume was some inside joke of theirs and he anxiously awaited a response.

"Ha ha, real mature," Gold Leader said dryly before addressing Din. "Vessel, you will follow us to base for refueling and appropriate repairs, then be on your way. The coordinates will be scrubbed from your navi-computer. Clear?"

"Yes sir." Din responded, knowing to respond directly to the commanding officer.

"Good. Gold Eight, since you're so eager to get us going: call it."

"You got it, Dutch," Gold Eight responded as Din made the final touches on the hyperdrive jump calculations. "Gold Squadron plus guest, jumping to hyperspace in three...two...one...now!"

Din punched the drive lever and the ship was sent rattling into the whirling bright clouds of hyperspace, Gold Squadron flanking him the whole way there.

———

Crossing the Rebel Base, Din grudgingly ignored the dozens of stares and double takes tossed at him by various pilots and grunts. Most had likely never seen a Mandalorian before in their lives, and even more never would again. Even after several years of criss-crossing the Galaxy, he’d never gotten used to large crowds.

This was why.

Luckily, no one said a word, amidst the slight chaos that was going on around the entire base. Right now, all Din was concerned with was tracking down the Y-wing that had originally answered his call.

The pilot ended up finding him first, to his surprise—and chagrin.

“Mando! Hey!”

The Mandalorian spun on his heel mid-step, turning abruptly to face an attractive, young dark-skinned man approaching him that was around his own height, if not slightly taller. Distantly, his mind matched the voice to the one he’d heard over the channel. This…was not who he was expecting. He couldn’t have been older than Din himself was. The man slowed down as he reached Din, offering his hand with a crooked, excitable grin.

“Glad to see you made it here in one piece. You must really know your way around a pilot’s seat, huh?”

Din took his outstretched hand, quickly appraising him, and belatedly realized he hadn’t acknowledged the other’s comment yet. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat.

“Thank you for the help back there. If you hadn’t come when you did, I doubt I would’ve been able to escape.”

The young pilot flashed a full smile now and released his hand with a friendly squeeze.

“Don’t mention it. I’m Rowan Kiindal-Savahou, Gold Eight of the Gold Squadron. We were in the area, and always good to take out some Imps, right?” And Din really couldn’t argue with that.

He also couldn't argue with how charming Rowan was, on top of his good looks.

Din spared himself a glance around out of necessity, not entirely sure what his next course of action should be. His options weren't great at this point. He'd almost certainly need a new ship, and while he'd been hoping to save up enough to eventually buy a better quality one, there was no way he could afford it.

If there was even a ship available for him to buy.

Resisting the urge to nervously shift his weight between each foot—he still _was_ a Mandalorian, after all—Din looked back over to Rowan.

"You wouldn't... happen to know where I could get a new ship, would you?" Each word that slid out only added to the shame of having to actually _ask a stranger for help,_ but it had to be done. And this guy was a Rebel; not someone he'd ever have otherwise worked with, but sure as kriff not the worst he could've ended up with.

Rowan let out a hearty, amused laugh.

"Well, you're in luck, Mando. We've got an extra ship in the back of the base, actually. None of us need it, she just takes up space. A _RazorCrest_ model, if I remember correctly. There's not really much I can do for you, besides that—we have less resources than we used to. This base is being abandoned and my squadron's getting relocated to Base One pretty soon."

Din usually would've been slightly annoyed at being laughed at—the situation was _not_ funny—but the mention of a ship combined with how pleasant the laugh was to his ears caught _much_ more of his attention.

The Rebel was beginning to walk away now, looking back at Din expectantly, if still amused. Once his mind caught up to his feet, Rowan led the way to what Din could only assume was said ship.

"How much will you take for it? I...don't have that many credits," he reluctantly admitted. It was hardly ever good to walk into a deal being so upfront, but he had very little choice, right now. The Rebel seemed like a good man, though—maybe, just maybe, his good luck streak wasn't quite over, yet.

Rowan paused his otherwise confident stride for a moment, looking Din up and down in what could only be appraisal. 

It was strangely revealing to be scrutinized this way, even when he was nearly completely covered in armor. He gnawed at his lower lip in consideration before nodding to himself, giving Din's upper arm a light pat, and continuing their trek.

"Forget about paying."

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks.

_"What?"_

"I said, don't worry about it. I'm not charging you anything." 

No one ever gave a ship away for free. There had to be a cost, right? Din couldn't take on such a large debt, not to a damn Rebel pilot. After a few moments, though, Rowan hadn't stopped walking and Din was forced to catch up.

"You're not just going to give me a ship for nothing. Tell me what it is you're after, and I'll do my best."

Still, Rowan didn't miss a beat.

"Kriff, you sounded smarter over the comm. You heard me—the ship's yours. I'm not asking for anything in return. And that's how this is gonna go down. We clear, Mando?"

He wasn't sure whether to be shocked more by how blatant this man was about his opinions to a _Mandalorian_ of all people, or by how he was evidently receiving a ship for no cost.

What a day this had been.

Din sighed, exhaustion finally beginning to creep up on him behind his eyes.

"I suppose."

The sunny smile returned, triumphant.

He didn't like how reassuring it was, fighting down the tension building up in his throat from stress.

"Good. I hope you're not all this needlessly stubborn."

They kept walking, but one question wouldn't leave the forefront of his mind.

"Why are you doing this for me? You already saved my life. Now you're going to just hand a ship over to me?"

"What, you think I don't save apparently stupid, deep-voiced men every day?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I have a good feeling about you. You seem like a nice guy, one who got caught in a bad situation—and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Not to mention, I think you've paid more than enough today."

The Mandalorian was about to retort when the ship came into view. It wasn't far away now, and he could tell from where they were that it was far from state-of-the-art yet was in significantly better condition than his had been, even at its best.

As they approached, Rowan gestured outwards towards the _RazorCrest_ as he spoke.

"She's usable, but she ain't pretty. You'll have to do quite a bit of maintenance on her. She's pre-Empire, not connected to any networks. A ghost ship fit for a Mandalorian."

The last words were laced with a bit of mirth, as if he were recalling stories he'd probably heard throughout his youth about the fearsome Mandalorians and their amazing feats. And yet there was no condescension there—only a seemingly self-sustained excitement.

"I...can't thank you enough for this, Rowan. I mean it. You're helping me out much more than I could've possibly asked for here."

A light, playful punch landed against his shoulder and the Rebel grinned.

"Like I said, don't mention it. If anything, you paid me back with how your jaw practically hit the floor when I said it's free," he teased.

Alert klaxons suddenly blared and Rowan’s head snapped to attention. A voice announced through the tinny speakers:

“Attention, all flight personnel: report to your commanders immediately! All flight personnel please report to your commanders immediately. We have been redirected to Scarif. This is an all-fleet call to arms! Pilots, you’ll be briefed by your squadron leaders en route. I repeat: fly for Scarif immediately. And may the Force be with you.”

The base was a sudden whirl of action and noise as pilots rushed out onto the landing pad and ran towards their fighters. Astromech droids of all colors and models followed their owners at top speed and Din narrowly avoided being hit in the leg by one of them. Rowan settled his flight helmet on and tightened the chin strap.

“C’mon, new guy!” Evaan Verlaine clapped him on the shoulder as she rushed past with her flight helmet tucked under her arm. “Show us what we’re really working with!”

“Duty calls,” Rowan shrugged and gave Din a smile from the corner of his mouth. 

“Kiindal! We’ll meet up with Red and Blue Squads on the way! Stop flirting and get your ass in gear!” Jon Vander yelled as he ran towards his Y-wing fighter. “R2-BHD, with me.”

A silver-and-yellow astromech droid followed behind Vander and Din properly jumped out of the way this time to avoid it as it passed.

“Go get ‘em, Tooby,” Rowan encouraged the droid and lightly smacked its dome while it drove by. 2-B gave him an excited beep in response.

“I have a thing against...droids,” Din muttered as Rowan turned his attention back. 

“I’ll remember that next time.”

“Next time?”

“If you want.” Rowan held out a data chip. “That’s my personal commlink channel code. Secure. Call me up next time you're in the parsec. We could grab a drink or two.”

 _“Kiindal, let’s go!”_ Vander hollered as he reached to close the transparisteel canopy of his Y-wing. 2-B was safely settled in its co-pilot socket and beeping cheerily.

“Thirty seconds!” Rowan didn’t look back as he replied.

“Then you’re hauling ass to that fighter!”

“Yes sir!” 

Din finally put together that this man must be Gold Leader, the angry-sounding man who had reprimanded Rowan earlier. Most of the other fighters had left already and only Gold Squad remained, impatiently waiting on Rowan.

“You better get going,” Din said, touching Rowan’s elbow as he took the data chip with the other hand. “Galaxy needs saving, right?”

“Right,” Rowan nodded with another stunning grin. “So, I’ll see you around?”

Din nodded. “If we’re lucky.”

“Take good care of her now, she’s an antique.”

And with that, Rowan stepped away and ran to his ship. He hopped in and shut the port and Din watched as he flipped levers and switches on his dashboard inside.

Vander and the rest of Gold Squadron took off past the bay shield. Rowan gave a short salute to Din from his cockpit and flew away.

The hangar bay was suddenly too quiet, save for some non-fighter personnel and various droids milling about. Din looked down at the data chip in his pocket and sighed. Even after all this action, he still had Ran to contend with later about the backstabbing merc.

But the new ship was nice, at least. Larger, roomier than his last one. He did a once-over inside and out of this RazorCrest model and found it to all be in working order. He transferred over his various blasters and weapons with little questioning from the Rebels around him and left the busted-up ship for good. He still felt a troubling sense of debt toward this Rebel pilot: the young man had both saved his life and his livelihood. If he had the chance, Din would repay him. He hated being indebted to anyone.

The more pressing thing on his mind, though, was that the pilot had clearly been attracted to him. Din couldn’t quite wrap his head around that. And the most troublesome thing of all was that Din had been attracted to him as well. 

Once ready, he climbed into the cockpit and took off. Empty space had never felt so inviting, or well...empty. He punched the hyperdrive and shot off into hyperspace without a hitch. The ship didn’t shake. It didn’t protest. Barely made a sound, save for the deep rumbling purr of the engines below.

———

The RazorCrest was a surprisingly reliable ship. It had been over a year since Din had acquired her from the Rebels and she had yet to disappoint in her duties. Faster, sturdier engines, a hyperdrive that could actually withstand more than three jumps at a time. Din had never complained about the ship that the Covert had bought for him—eternally thankful that the Mandalorians cared about him enough to pool together their meager credits so Din could have the chance to hunt for them and return with even more—but he was glad that luck had been on his side that fateful day.

He was headed back to his current client's home planet with a bounty in tow, frozen in carbonite and stored away for the time being. There was still over a standard rotation left before his scheduled rendezvous, more than enough time to relax and take the pressure off the engines. Din checked his starmap again and ensured that he was on target. A name caught his eye. A familiar asteroid system, something that sparked his memory. Why?

He looked up the system on his internal computer and came up empty-handed. Then it came to him: _the temporary Rebel base._ The man who had gifted him the ship that now served as his home. Rowan. He had given Din a datachip with his contact, told him to call if he was in the area again. Din hated being in debt to anyone.

It was a long shot and Din knew it. The Rebel had said that base was to be abandoned for another, and that had been over a year ago. Din had been latently following the advancements of the War on the Holonet when he could manage to, now given reason to care about the conflict further than how it solely impacted his Covert. If Rowan wasn’t at that base then Din was out of luck.

But he had enough credits now to repay the man for the ship and he felt compelled to even out their debt. He checked the chrono again and took a calculated risk. The RazorCrest dropped from hyperspace as Din plotted course for the base. He punched the engines and shot off into space once more. Now all he needed was to find the contact chip.

He opened up the small drawer tucked under the control panel, cursing himself and his lack of forethought when he'd cast the chip into the already copious pile of chips he'd been given by various people he'd worked with. Some were with the intent to immediately toss, others kept for... similar opportunities.

It was certainly a stroke of good luck that he'd had a lot of time to spare, as this would take some time.

He emptied the contents onto the empty, adjacent pilot's seat—which felt strange, he noted, like the seat should've always been left empty for whomever it belonged to—and went to work sorting through the chips. 

Some would bring up names he recognized immediately when he plugged them into the computer, while others didn't click whatsoever—there was one in particular he was searching for, after all, and he didn't have time to stroll down memory lane. Especially if it opened wounds like seeing “Xi'an” appear before him did.

When he removed her chip, he eyed it for a brief moment, before crushing it in his leather glove. 

_She better have hoped she didn't run into Din again._

It was a tedious process, but eventually the name popped up. Rowan Kiindal-Savahou. Just who he was looking for. 

Glancing over to the timepiece nearby, he figured he still had plenty of time to get a few hours of sleep in before landing. A quick call first wouldn't hurt, would it? Din keyed in his clearance code and opened the channel. It was silent for a long moment and he waited for a response.

"Hello?" A familiar voice said.

"Hey," Din answered and then froze, quickly realizing that he hadn't planned anything to say to the Rebel once he had gotten this far. Apparently he waited too long for Rowan's liking.

"Who is this?"

"It's uh, this is the Mandalorian. Your squadron saved my ship from the Imperial blockade? It was ruined so you gifted me another one?"

"Oh, uh...." Rowan trailed off before his voice brightened in recognition. "Oh, you! Hey Mando, I'm surprised to hear from you! How's the old gal holding up for you?"

"She's uh, she's doing great," Din absently patted the console as he spoke. "Faster than my last ship."

"She better be. We stripped your old ship for salvageable parts once you left and that engine was a mess. How did you even fly in that thing?"

"Hey, it was all we could afford," Din chided with a note of levity. Rowan laughed brighty in reply. 

"Understandable. Hey, if you're within comms range then you're close by, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You got a bounty or something right now? Or just passing through the parsec?"

"Yeah...but I have about a day's worth of downtime before I have to meet up with my client. Actually, I was thinking about dropping by so I can repay you for the RazorCrest. I have enough credits to make a down payment, at least half."

"Oh no, you don't have to—!"

"Please. I insist." Din was resolute in his decision. A down payment was better than nothing at all.

"Mando, I told you before. I didn't expect you to pay me back then and I still don't now. We have to be kind to one another during this war or we're all gonna fall apart."

Din sat back. He had never thought about things that way before. His silence on the line must have worried Rowan.

"...Mando? You still alive?"

Din exhaled a laugh at the echo back to their first meeting. "Yeah. I'm here. How can I find you?"

"Yeah, of course. Our quarters are dug deep into the second-largest asteroid. I'll send you the coordinates." The data chip lit up as Din's computer received the info.

It wouldn't be an inconvenience to find, not when he had something to look forward to now.

"I'll be in orbit in a few standard hours. Will you be good to meet up then?"

Especially not if he had somewhere to be.

"Later today, yeah. I can do that. So it's a date?" Rowan was quite obviously excited, no matter how hard he tried to keep his voice smooth. It was unbelievably gratifying to have someone want his presence—and not just to hire him. 

That was something he'd scarcely known for a long time.

He was too busy with the bubbling excitement in his stomach to stress over the fact that he was agreeing to a date.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a date," he chuckled. Din had had his fair share of encounters—usually with people he could hardly see in seedy bathrooms or dingy alleys. He wasn't expecting nor wanting anything long-term with Rowan by any means, but it was a nice change of pace to have a more enthusiastic mutual interest. Anything he'd ever experienced came purely out of need and convenience, and he was the closest body.

And he wouldn't pressure Rowan into anything—the tension of that mutual interest had been palpable, for sure, and Rowan certainly sounded eager, but that didn't mean things couldn't change. Din would respect that.

"Alright." He could practically hear the smile in his voice. "We can maybe hit up the bar, see where things go."

Well, things hadn't changed, then.

He swallowed.

"That... sounds good. I'll see you soon?"

"See you soon, Mando," Rowan confirmed. Voices were audible in the background, but he couldn't make out what was being said. 

_He probably had to sneak away or excuse himself to answer the call,_ Din belatedly realized.

The call ended and the Mandalorian was alone once more, with only the droning of the ship to break up the isolated silence. It wouldn't be long now. The anticipation was already thrumming throughout his body.

Din practically jogged to the refresher—which was _also_ bigger and nicer than the one on his last ship, even if it wasn't much, he'd noted—and quickly stripped himself of his armor and clothing.

Before hopping in, he caught his own reflection in the mirror and was startled by the sight of his face twisted in a faint smile.

———

Din tugged at his flak jacket to smooth out the wrinkles and adjusted the fit on his vambrace one last time. He worried his lip beneath the helmet and took one last look at himself in the mirror: head to toe, he looked every part a Mandalorian. Davarax had always told him that the _Mando'ade_ should always stand tall and proud, shoulders back, best foot forward. And damn, if he felt more Mandalorian now than he ever had been.

It hadn't been too much of a problem to steer the RazorCrest down past the asteroid’s bay and onto the landing platform. He found Rowan waiting for him in the bay when we disembarked from the ship, all smiles and happy chatter. And Din had to admit, he looked rather nice in something other than the garish orange flight suit.

"Hey Mando!" Rowan greeted him, clapping him on the back and quickly steering him away from prying eyes. Din noticed that _that_ certainly hasn't changed a bit here. "The bar's on lower Deck 10. It's not much and it'll probably be crowded but it's worth a shot, right?"

"Right..." Din went along with Rowan's train of thought despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to have a drink. It was a way to start conversation, break the ice as it were. He followed the pilot through the busy hallways and ignored all the glances in his direction. 

Rowan had been right, the bar was small and packed with other rebels. Had he been on his own Din would've tried to make a quick exit from the situation, but Rowan's guiding hand steadied him until they found an empty table and sat down. Rowan ordered two of the same drink then sat back and waited.

"Well?" He prompted when Din didn't speak up. "Tell me about yourself! What've you been doing out in the galaxy while I've been out killing Imps and taking names?"

And where was Din supposed to begin? What was there to say about himself that would be remotely interesting to Rowan?

"I...well, I work as a bounty hunter to survive. I've been doing it for a few years, got commissioned into a Guild earlier this year, and work alone." He paused. "Which means I usually don't need to comm a Rebel squadron for help."

Belatedly, he realized that could be taken the wrong way, but Rowan threw his head slightly back in a half-surprised, half-pleased laugh. 

"Yeah, guess it doesn't really go with your mysterious thing too well, does it?"Rowan matched the energy of what Din had said; it could've been taken as an insult, but was more likely in the direction of flirty banter.

Stars, it'd been so long since he'd had to navigate this kind of interaction.

Din was going into this mostly blind—he almost always skipped the preamble of flirting or getting to know each other with a potential partner. Whether that caused or was caused by his blunt nature, he wasn't sure.

 _But it was really nice,_ Din found. 

Conversation flowed evenly, with a mix of Din talking about his background as a Mandalorian- Rowan seemed pointedly interested in this—and sharing some of the more interesting stories that lingered at the forefront of his mind.

In return Rowan shared details about his own life: how he'd come into joining the Rebels, and had eventually ended up stationed where he presently was. After he had left Din last year, his squad had aided in taking down the shield gate around Scarif and more importantly, had received the transmitted plans for the Death Star. When his story turned to Yavin, however, he turned more somber and admitted that his squad leader, Jon Vander, had been killed in action while attempting to run the trench of the Death Star to destroy it. All it took was Din murmuring that he understood the feeling all too well for Rowan to smile and more on to more exciting tales. A kindred soul. _This was new._

All his stories were laced with something else, too, though—touches to Din's covered forearms that burned even through the metal vambrace, brushing his shoulder against Din's pauldron after shifting closer. Everything only served to make his mind wander to what that man was like underneath those layers. How soft his bare skin might be if it was exposed—how appealing, perhaps littered with scars, it would be even in the shitty bar light.

_Yeah. It had been far too long and his hand was not cutting it any longer._

Din didn't drink, of course, but could feel himself loosening up with every laugh they shared. Rowan was only halfway through his second drink and seemed hardly affected when he suggested they leave. 

He scanned the establishment, seemingly noticing that it was only getting more crowded as time went on, before turning to face Din and giving him a tilted smirk.

"Hey, uh...you wanna get out of here, maybe, Mando?"

"Yeah," Din replied, barely audible over the clatter of the bar and a group who erupted into raucous laughter at that exact moment. Rowan smiled again and grabbed Din's hand, pulling him from the table with ease. He shouted at the bartender to put the drinks on his tab and made his way towards the exit.

"I know where you live, Kiindal!" The bartender shouted back.

"We all know where each other live!" Rowan laughed without missing a beat. "And it's Kiindal-Savahou!"

The doors to the bar slid shut behind them, leaving the young men in relative silence in the windowless stone atrium before it. 

"So? My quarters or yours?" Rowan asked. Din tilted his head in confusion before the pieces fell into place.

"Yours, I think," he murmured, taking another step closer. Rowan knit their fingers together and backed up towards the single lift that centralized the asteroid. 

The ride up the lift was both agonizingly slow and yet too fast, and before Din knew it they were standing outside one of the many nondescript doors that circled this housing level. 

"Well, here's home sweet home. Let me warn you, it's not much to look at. Not even a good view."

Din laughed. Rowan had told him earlier that to keep the pressurization of atmosphere the asteroid was mined out to be windowless, the stone itself acting as both wall and containment in the base. During their conversation Din had plucked up enough courage to swoop in for a line of his own and decided to try his hand at it.

"I have all the view I need right here." He pulled Rowan in by the elbow and wrapped an arm around the rebel's waist.

"Ooh, smooth one, Mando," Rowan praised, his arms coming to wrap up and over Din's shoulders. "You wanna actually come in or should we just stand here trading pick up lines all night? I'm good with either."

Din reached around to press the door panel. It slid open with a quiet swish. Rowan nodded with a sly smile and pulled Din past the threshold by the lip of his breastplate. The door had barely shut before Rowan pressed Din back against it, hunger and excitement sparking in his dark eyes as the motion detector turned on the light.

"You know, I've always been fascinated by Mandalorians. My parents would tell me stories about them; their bravery and courage and fighting ability, their armor that shone like the stars." He ran long fingers down along the lines of the breastplate and followed its contours. Din could only stand frozen and shivered beneath every movement. Kriff, this was entirely different from his past encounters. He hadn't felt this out of control of himself since, well...that thing that happened in the Covert sparring room didn't count. She hadn't even noticed.

"I've always wanted to fuck a Mandalorian," Rowan said, drinking in the sight of Din as much as he could. "But only if they wanted to as well. Never thought I’d actually get to meet one."

It took a moment for Din to realize what Rowan was offering him: an out. The choice. 

"I...yes," Din replied, suddenly bashful. "I do."

Rowan's eyes widened just slightly, and his shoulders relaxed in relief from having his interest reciprocated. It was actually reassuring to Din to see that they were on equal footing here, that Rowan was going out of his way to confirm that Din wanted this.

Luckily for the both of them, he very much did. 

"Good. That's... good." His throat bobbed, and Din—not for the first time in his life—really wished his mouth was available to use. 

Rowan seemed to have the same thought, however, and his eyes dropped to where Din's cowl covered his neck and upper collarbone. He peered back up at the visor, intent and lust already obviously filling his eyes, but still that twinge of uncertainty, as well. 

"Can I?"

This would be another first, for him. Din could remember the last time he'd looked Davarax in the eye before putting on his _buy'ce,_ could remember the wandering hands that never lingered with previous partners, but couldn't remember anyone wanting to go out of their way to touch something as mundane as his neck.

He wasn't even completely sure what it would feel like. Any time he'd touched it himself for some reason, whether absently or to treat a wound, Din hadn't given it a second thought.

Yet, his cock gave an interested twitch in his pants at the thought of lips, tongue, and teeth attacking such a vulnerable area. A weak spot. Somewhere he was taught to utilize only to disarm or kill. He'd be at Rowan's mercy—which was likely why the man was asking for permission first.

_"Yes."_

With that, a hand was yanking down his cowl to expose his skin, as Rowan's lips immediately met with the column of his throat.

And...oh.

Oh kriff, did that feel good.

One of Rowan's hands cupped the back of Din's neck as he pressed forward and explored the bare strip of skin with his lips and tongue and kriff—his _teeth._ The other pulled Din even closer and wandered down the hard planes of durasteel until they came to rest at his belt. Rowan made a questioning sound and Din nodded and rumbled his assent. He felt Rowan's lips spread in a smile against his throat and that teasing hand slipped even lower and cupped between his legs. Din made a very unexpected moan at the contact and his head fell back against the door with a clonk.

"Fuck!"

Rowan immediately pulled back. "You good?"

"Yeah," Din said, breathless. "It's...been too long. Wow. You're. You're really good."

"Oh and I haven't done anything yet," Rowan said with a smirk.

"I um, to be honest..." Din had to bring it out into the open. As shameful as the hot flush across his cheeks felt, Din needed to be truthful with the rebel. "I've never been with a man before. All the way, I mean. I've had some, uh...experiences, but if we're planning on doing this I—"

"Shh." Rowan gently squeezed the back of Din's neck to grab his attention. Well, just about anything could grab Din's attention at that moment. "We can take it slow. You've got a whole day before you gotta go, yeah? So no rush."

"O-okay," Din stuttered.

"How about I start off with.... _this,"_ Rowan's hand began a slow, steady rhythm over the fabric that made Din's cock ache to be freed from its confines. But no, not yet; for now Rowan was happy to tease and stroke and do everything but what Din had expected him to do.

"This good?" He murmured just below the lip of the helmet and nipped at the junction of Din's jaw and throat. He could feel the rebel's own erection tight against his thigh, unattended to for now but clearly ready for more.

Din groaned and nodded as he was able to do little else in the staggering sensation. He was thankful for the door that held him up, for if he had nothing to rest against he surely would've keeled over. Rowan took his time before reaching to undo Din's belt. He paused and cocked his head.

"Yes," Din sighed. "Please."

His breath was already coming in quiet, short gasps at the touch of Rowan's hand alone. The rebel hummed a note of satisfaction as he grasped the stiff length that awaited him and Din moaned. His blush deepened as Rowan toyed with the heavy bead of precum and spread it all down his cock head. _Shit, he really knew how to work a man into pieces._

While he had had a handful of impersonal trysts and one night stands since attaining Guild status last year, Din had known nothing like the gentle and attentive care that Rowan was putting into him now; assuring that he was comfortable and consenting to each new act. This was nothing like a rushed hour in a cantina 'fresher or in the shadows of a shipyard in the downtime between a new hunt.

 _Rowan cared._

And, oh—when had he dropped to his knees?

Rowan licked his lips and glanced between Din's groin and his _buy'ce._ Another pause. 

"Can I—"

 _"Yes!"_ If the word came out perhaps a touch more desperately than Din had wished, Rowan didn't seem to mind or care. If anything, it only served to make him more eager to reach in and pull out his dripping prize.

"Fuck," Rowan gasped under his breath. His tongue darted out to again wet his lips, breath escaping his open mouth in warm pants against Din's cock. Wide eyes peered back up at the visor, and Rowan pressed his pink lips against the flushed tip, not breaking contact for a second.

Din's helmet came in contact with the door again—and that probably would've hurt, if he wasn't distracted- but with only enough precision that he could still see those lips open and begin to take him in.

 _'Fuck' was right._

A strangled moan and mix of curses flew past his own lips, most garbled past recognition by the secondhand voice modulator in his _buy'ce._ Whatever Rowan could pick out from his position seemed to be enough encouragement, however, as Din could both see _and feel_ that clever mouth envelop his cock further. He took Din more than halfway before steadying himself—wrapping one warm hand around the base and dropping the other to palm at his own cock through his trousers.

A deep moan rumbled out from Rowan's throat. 

Din was woefully unprepared. His complete focus was on not thrusting further into Rowan's mouth, but both the sight of the other man pleasuring himself and the vibrations around his cock had him almost instantly half-bucking his hips.

The other man pulled his mouth off with a _pop,_ and panic began to flood Din's mind.

"Ah, _shit,_ sorry—"

A dozen thoughts ran through his head about how Rowan could react, but all of them were extinguished as the Rebel smiled up at him, one hand still giving his cock slow, teasing pumps. 

"It's okay, I can take it. Just...let me know if that's what you want, yeah?" The disarming smile quickly shifted into more of a smirk, and Rowan's mouth was back on him, licking a strip up the underside from the base to the head. He ran his tongue over the slit, lapping up the bead of precum that gathered there.

_Oh._

Well, it wasn't the reaction he was expecting, but Din was more than okay with this.

What he wasn't okay with, however, was cumming standing up when they were _so close_ to the bed.

"You okay if we move this then?" Din ignored how unsteady his voice sounded as it registered back to him, and ran a slightly trembling hand along the other man's jaw. Rowan gave him a few final licks, before shifting back onto his heels to stand, and pulling Din forward by the belt loops on his opened pants.

"Definitely," he confirmed with a tilt of his head, walking them backwards in the right direction.

Yeah, Din would take his sweet time paying off the Razor Crest, tonight.

~


	2. ...But Keep The Old

Din had always loved Sorgan. It was quiet, peaceful, the people warm and inviting. So it was no surprise to him that Giano and Cipolla's wedding drew quite the crowd of singing, laughing, dancing revelers to the clearing. Many familiar faces swirled around him as well as a good handful of strangers and visitors from the small town beyond the forest. He nodded to Cara as she swung Omera happily around the field, laughed as _adi'ka_ and Winta played some made-up game with stones and sabacc cards, and smiled as Corin danced. He seemed happy. Carefree, as he should always be. The soft flush across his cheeks and bright look his eyes was all Din ever wanted to see. He watched from the sidelines and idly fiddled with his vambrace to pass the time.

The current song was in full swing and the musical cue to change partners found Corin leaving the arms of his current partner and into the next. But Din took pause as his eyes followed this new stranger in Corin's arms. No. It couldn't be...

_Could it?_

That familiar face. Those piercing eyes, proud but kind, wrinkling now at the edges but still so recognizable. That thick pale scar that ran down his cheek to dip under a short beard. It had healed well since the last time Din had seen it. The echo of the hiss the rebel had made upon Din's gentle touch still rung in his ears after all this time.

It had been close to five years since he had seen Rowan last. The war had taken its toll on everyone; some more than others. The two had learned firsthand just how poorly shellshock and passion harmonized. After Jakku…Rowan was changed. There had been no resolution, no closure, no easy goodbyes. And Din hadn't realized just how much that hurt until he saw Corin wrapped merrily in Rowan's arms like any other stranger.

He barely registered that the song had ended until Corin began to weave his way back towards him. He refused to look up from the dirt until Corin was standing right in front of him with Rowan looking just as surprised a few paces behind. 

There was no way to avoid the awkwardness that would almost definitely ensue. That much was sure. Should he pretend to not know Rowan? There'd be no deceiving the other man, of course, but Rowan was no fool—he would tread the situation carefully. _Hopefully._

Once he realized there was no escaping or fighting this, Din sighed out as much tension as he could manage and kept his tone casual and even. 

"You have fun?" It came out a little rougher than intended, but that could easily be excused by the excitement of their environment. Corin had had a bit to drink, and probably hadn't even caught it. That didn't mean Din didn't notice exactly how his voice cracked. 

"Yeah, I did! And look: I'm making friends," he chuckled. The innocent, lopsided grin, bright eyes and flushed cheeks only served to twist the dagger in his gut. _Corin had absolutely no idea._

This is when Rowan caught up—having hesitated in his tracks for a few moments—looking between Din and Corin for a sign to go off of. Of course, Corin spoke before the reality of the situation could settle properly. 

"Din, this is Rowan. Rowan, this is Din." He cocked his head at his Mandalorian before joining Din's side. The presence was both reassuring and nerve-wracking at the same time. 

Rowan eyed them still, certainly understanding what exactly he'd walked into now if he did not before. His expression wasn't upset or perturbed—if anything, the furrowed brows and slight grin pointed towards a confused curiosity. That, Din could work with, at least. Out of anyone he could've ran into by accident, Rowan certainly wasn't the _worst._ Not by any means.

"So you two are...together, right?"

"Well," Din avoided the question. He decided it was better to tell a white lie than to dredge up the old pain. There was a high likelihood that Rowan might not even recognize him as well; his armor was vastly different to what he had worn the last time they had met, and as long as he doesn't speak too much...

"Well," Corin echoed, casting a sideways glance down where Din sat. "We're not, _not_ together."

Rowan laughed then, that so-familiar chuckle from the side of his mouth. "Well then, I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you, Corin. I had a good time."

The man turned around to leave but Din was far from ready for the conversation to be over yet. When the universe gifts you with the chance for some sort of resolution, do you squander it?

"Rowan, wait." he started. Rowan froze.

"Hmm?"

"I..." _What could he say to make up for lost time?_ Any useful words died in his throat. "Do you...recognize me?"

Rowan smiled sadly and took another step away. "You're still alive, Mando. And got an upgrade. Keeping the old girl safe for me?"

"Yeah." Din nodded. So he knew. "She's been through a hell of a ride since then, but I have some good friends who keep her tuned-up. Including this one," he took a weak jab at Corin's arm, who shrugged it off lightheartedly.

"That's good. I'm glad." Rowan backed away and was almost swept up by the merry sea of dancers once more. He looked anything but merry. "I guess I'll be seeing you two around. I'm here for the rest of the night. New Republic business to attend to in a rotations' time. Unavoidable, you know?"

"Yeah," Din said dryly. "Unavoidable."

And Rowan was gone. There was a beat of silence before either spoke.

"What was that all about?" Corin asked. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I do." The silver pauldrons drooped in the light of the bonfire beside them. "I did."

Din's answer didn't seem to give Corin quite the explanation he was searching for, but he didn't press the issue as he extended a solid hand to help Din—now holding the child—stand. The gesture wasn't necessary by any means, but Din had found it alright to indulge himself in such casual intimacy, if only fleetingly. It pulled him a bit more back to the present, and out of the memories of years before.

He was a considerably different person, now, and Rowan was, as well; that was why they'd gone their separate ways and never looked back.

And then he'd stumbled across the kid. 

Then Corin, after that.

The man in front of him, the one who smiled with nothing but warmth in his eyes and affection in his heart, along with the child tucked in his arm, comprised his whole world. Din didn't miss the way he used to live, if he was being honest with himself.

Even the best moments he'd experienced—with Rowan or otherwise—were nothing compared to what he finally had.

That's why he put Rowan out of his mind as they ventured back to the house, focusing on only the warmth of Corin's hand, which never bothered to leave his own. He continued asking Corin about his experiences throughout the evening, listening intently to the recollection of new, interesting people he'd met and customs he'd learned about. Even if Din didn't care for large, noisy crowds or parties too terribly much, Corin genuinely enjoyed the vibrancy of such events, and that was far more than enough for him.

The kid fell asleep not long after they began their trek, and forced them to ease their pace so as to not jostle him awake. It was an ideal ending to the night- and gave his mind enough time to settle down from the stress of being surrounded by people.

By the time they made it back, he'd almost completely forgotten about what happened. 

Din was removing his weapons and utility belt when Corin, now sat on their bed not far from where the Mandalorian stood, cocked his head like he was considering a question. The child luckily didn't protest when Din put him down to sleep, having already worn himself out in the previous few hours. 

"He gave you the 'Crest?"

The Mandalorian didn't freeze in place. For a moment, he stopped in consideration, but he did _not_ freeze. Well, he wasn't about to lie. Especially when the truth was already so obvious in the words they'd exchanged, back there.

"A long time ago, yes. After my old ship was almost completely destroyed." 

The ex-Trooper's clever eyes twisted, considering this.

"And he works for the New Republic? So he was a Rebel?"

_"Was,"_ Din repeated. "But I'm sure that's all behind him now."

Corin sighed and sat down on the corner of the bed. "Din, I can tell that something clearly happened between you two."

"We had a...falling out. Of sorts. After the war was over and the Empire fell."

"You were friends?"

Din was silent for a while and debated whether he should bring up the particular details of his relationship with Rowan Kiindal-Savahou. There wasn't much choice he could see in avoiding it.

"You could say that."

"You were sleeping together." Din both loved and hated that Corin had a keen sense of reading between the lines, on the off-moments where he wasn't oblivious. He had cut right to the heart of the matter.

"Like I said, it was a long time ago, Corin. Almost ten years since we first met. We were different men then."

"You don't need to explain anything to me, I understand." Corin patted the mattress beside him and Din sat down as he was prompted. "And I can see why you were attracted to him. He's very nice."

"Almost to a fault," Din mumbled, resting his _buy'ce_ on Corin's shoulder. "That cocky pilot attitude doesn't mix well with a kind heart. It turns sour quickly."

"Do you still love him?" Corin's question took Din aback. He shifted so the visor could clearly see his lover's face. Corin wasn't accusatory or jealous or offended. Simple curiosity reflected in his eyes.

"Did I ever say I did?"

"No, but I can hear it in your voice."

Din sighed and closed his eyes. Corin was right. "At one point, I thought I did. But I was younger then, naive. So was he. We were reckless with our hearts, put too much of ourselves into something that got out of hand. It all had to come crashing down eventually."

"And you never got closure," Corin finished. Din nodded against his shoulder. A beat of silence passed between them as Corin absorbed this new information. Din settled further in and tucked himself up against Corin's side. The wedding reception was still in full swing outside though the music was muffled behind the trees and the walls of their housing. Some guests were making their way back to their residences too, while the rowdier ones chose to stay back and party. "Well, if you need some closure, and if he's okay with it...we could invite him over."

At that Din bolted upright, helmet almost colliding with Corin's chin in the process. Had Corin really just insinuated what Din thought he had?

_"Corin!"_

"I did say he was attractive!" Corin laughed. "Why are you surprised?"

"You've never been this forward before. I'm beyond surprised!"

"Well maybe tonight..." Corin craned in and toyed with the collar of Din's shirt. His expression was full of curiosity and familiar hunger. "I will be. Whatever they put in that wine was good. Real good. Can you call him up?"

"Y-yeah," Din stuttered. _Where had this Corin come from?_ "I memorized his personal comm channel years ago." He scrambled off the bed to reach for his vambrace with the comm panel and almost punched in the code from muscle memory alone. One thought stopped him.

“You're really okay with sharing me with another man? This isn't some rushed or drunken choice of yours?”

“If I wasn't okay with it, would I be asking?”

Din found he couldn’t argue with that logic. He dialed in the channel and input his clearance code like he had so done many times before. The line was dead for a moment before Rowan's voice fuzzed through.

"...Hello?"

Din took a moment to steady himself, exhaling a breath that didn't quite make it through the modulator, when Rowan spoke again.

"If... no one's there, I'm gonna—"

"Hey, uh, it's me."

There was silence from the other man for a few moments, filled only by the hum of jovial voices and music in the background.

"Mando." He paused, clearly a bit surprised. "Hey. Listen, I didn't know you'd be here. Or that you were with someone now. He seems like a really great guy, though, and I'll just stay out of your way—"

Rowan was apologizing. _He really had to have changed,_ Din noted.

"It's alright. Actually I called to..." he trailed off, not having the slightest clue of how to word this. 

Another beat of silence passed as Rowan awaited an explanation.

"To?"

Din glanced at Corin, who regarded him with patience and curiosity, but showed no uncertainty or lack of trust. He knew the ex-Trooper trusted him with his life, his heart, everything. If they were going to do this, they'd do it with the knowledge in mind that no matter what, they belonged to each other.

"To, um. Invite you over."

“Oh... _oh.”_

Quickly, he rushed to add, "If you'd rather not, that's fine—"

"Well, I mean, he's okay with it? I respect you both, I don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with; either of you." 

Din couldn't help but smile at that. The image of them both, young and still learning and asking "Is this okay?" flashed through his mind. 

"Yeah. It was his idea, actually."

Corin's head tilted, amused, keenly aware that he was being discussed.

"O-okay. Well, in that case... I think that can be arranged then, yeah. I'd like that."

Relieved that he'd managed to pull it off, Din shot Corin a small nod in confirmation. His companion visibly relaxed. 

_They were going to make this work._

"We're being housed here in the village, near the East side by the ponds. We'll be waiting outside."

"Sounds like a date." Din could hear Rowan's smile clear through the comm. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay. See you then." He closed the comm panel with its soft click and sighed. "What did you just get me into, Corin."

"Something fun," Corin sidled up behind Din and wrapped his arms around the man's middle. His voice dropped into a quiet husky tone, hands slowly beginning their journey across his lover’s chest. "I've never done this either. But he's hot and we're all okay with this. Right?"

It was at that moment that a soft mumbling coo brought the men back to reality. The child turned over in its sleep and nuzzled further into its swaddling cocoon of blankets.

"Oh kriff. The kid." Din realized that they had forgotten to factor the child into the equation. "He has to go somewhere else for the night."

"I'll take him over to Omera and Cara, okay?" Corin disentangled himself from Din and moved to scoop up the slumbering child. "I saw them turning in about the time we left. You wait outside for Rowan."

"Yeah. I-I can do that."

——

The scant time it took for Corin to leave with their small treasure and return felt like an eternity. Din leaned impatiently against the doorframe, anxiously rubbing at his wrist and scanning the trees for any sign of the ex-Rebel. Corin returned by his side only a moment before Rowan turned down the path towards them.

"Hey you," he called when he was close enough. That familiar teasing glint lit up his dark eyes; Din had always loved that aggravating teasing streak Rowan had. "I've been thinking: if you got yourself a real man now, then why do you need me?"

"Why do you think?" Corin replied, crossing his arms over his chest proudly.

"What, can you not satisfy him?" Rowan countered. "You shoot as bad as a Stormtrooper?"

Din flinched at the jab. Rowan couldn't possibly know, and Corin wouldn't have told him! 

"Hmm...better, I'd say." Corin took the insult in stride without offence. Din sighed in relief. Corin could take the banter, then.

"Okay then soldier, let's see if your aim in the sack is as bad as on the battlefield."

"This Mando can attest that my aim is impeccable."

Din was glad that his helmet hid the now furious blush that heated his cheeks. He had never been talked about—teased over—like this before. Rowan had had his moments, yes, but adding Corin into the mix only seemed to intensify things. He breathed deeply and tried to calm himself. This was all talk, the action hadn't even started yet.

"Good. So you gonna invite me in or are we gonna trade lines all night?" 

"After you," Corin gestured towards the threshold that Din was currently blocking. It took a moment for Din to register that things were moving on now. The thought both worried and excited him.

The three men filed into the room without further fanfare. Din's heart began to beat hard in his chest, but he kept his stride even. He admittedly wasn't too terribly sure how to start this, but the other two still seemed unfazed by the newness of the situation. If anything, judging by the banter they'd already shared, they were quite ready to get their hands on each other, as well as Din. The Mandalorian swallowed, throat suddenly feeling thick.

Rowan took a cursory glance around, before his eyes landed on their bed in the corner. Turning to face the other two, he tipped his head questioningly.

"Got rid of the kid for the night, huh? Definitely good thinking. I'm assuming he didn't come from either of you, right?"

Din rolled his eyes behind the visor, but Corin chuckled at the suggestion with surprising ease.

"Yeah, don't worry about the kid. We're alone for the whole night."

"Well, now that we've got the place to ourselves and nothing else is in the way...why don't we get started?" Rowan licked his lips and glanced conspiratorially between Din and Corin. "And since we've never quite gotten that far, considering, how about you instead?"

Corin inhaled sharply as Rowan's eyes settled on him.

"I wanna see how you pulled this one," he nodded in Din's direction, "onto the straight and narrow. Can I?" He turned to Din for approval. A terse nod of the helmet was all Din could give in response.

"I wouldn't object. Anything so I can shut you up for a bit," Corin laughed and pulled Rowan in by the back of his neck. Rowan smiled against Corin's mouth until he got caught up in the feeling and kissed back.

Din had thought he could handle this. Evidently, he could not.

It had never occurred to him how scorchingly hot it would be to watch his old flame and his _kar'ta_ kiss. Never had he been so envious of _aruetiise_ and their ability to use their mouths on whomever they pleased. If these two kissed as well as they sucked cock then Din was in very good company indeed. And as it seemed, they did.

Din watched in aroused silence as Rowan slipped his tongue past Corin's lips, pressing their bodies even closer together as their hands started to roam. Din felt a stab of possessive frustration when Rowan's hand slid down to grab a handful of Corin's ass, but it was sated when Corin countered with a tug on Rowan's collar that made him release and adjust to a tight hold on Corin's waist instead. Corin rumbled a satisfied note at the correction and let Rowan continue his exploration uninterrupted. All the while Din watched and steadily grew harder in his pants. Corin began to moan in the sweet way he always did and Rowan followed with his familiar low growl that sent lust like electricity shooting through Din's veins.

Memories old and new swirled in a haze at the sight, at the sound: two vivacious young men exploring each other, one desperately trying to justify that this could be equal payment for a new ship, perhaps in time...two scared men lying on the floor of said ship years later, back to front, so hesitant but so desperate to touch and be touched...two men—older now, more broken—trying to reconcile their pain through the familiarity of each other's bodies...two men, warm in a wood cabin as the snow fell outside, bare chest to bare chest and their child slumbering only a few rooms away, one desperately needing to tell the other just how much he meant to him....

Din stood, teeth clenched so tightly they hurt his jaw behind the helmet, hands white-knuckling in the side seams of his pants to keep them from roaming too—whether between his own legs or his lovers' he did not know. It seemed like centuries had passed before Rowan and Corin finally broke apart. And as usual, Rowan had something to say about it.

"Wow. I can see why you've got this one now."

"Do you really have a comment for everything?" Corin asked. "Stars, you're almost as bad as Leave-It."

"Who?" Rowan knit his brows together and glanced at Din. "Should I be offended by that?"

"I..." Din could barely form a coherent thought let alone respond to an inside joke.

"Speechless, huh. Typical," Rowan laughed and turned back to Corin. "Does he still like the neck?"

A sly smile spread across Corin's lips and he addressed Din directly. "Take off your cloak, _cyare."_

It was a moment before Din could process the soft command and yet another before he lifted a shaking hand to fumble in undoing the cowl around his throat. The fabric cascaded to the ground and revealed the damning evidence: bruises were scattered across the column of his neck like stars, all of various sizes and in different stages of healing.

"Is that answer enough?" Corin murmured, voice laced with pride.

"Damn, I almost forgot how hot you are all marked up like that," Rowan turned again to meet Corin's eyes. "Can I?"

"Be my guest," Corin laughed and gestured broadly toward Din. "I'm sure he'd love a familiar face...wouldn't you, _ner kar'ta?"_

Din was still too stunned to fully absorb the conversation and took a reflexive step back when Rowan advanced. The ex-Rebel put his hands up in a calming manner.

"Hey, I don't bite," he said with a smirk, "too hard. You know that."

"I do," Din replied and allowed Rowan into his personal space once more. 

He couldn't help the mild groan that immediately left his throat as Rowan pressed his mouth against it. Starting from where his neck met his collarbone and rising, he switched between already existing marks and space still left unclaimed. 

Distantly, he could see Corin watching from where he stood with darkened eyes, a pink flush tingling his face and neck, and reddened, swollen lips that a tongue absently darted across. His entire focus was on them, and he twitched at the sounds Din made.

Rowan bit down particularly hard on one of the more sensitive spots in the tendon, and he full-on whimpered. The man attached to his neck chuckled, evidently pleased that some things had indeed stayed the same.

Din's hand came up to rest on the back of Rowan's own nec, just as he rose to look into the visor. 

"Bet you thought I forgot, huh?"

If he was being honest with himself, it'd happened so fast that Din had no idea what to expect from this. He certainly wasn't going to complain, though.

"I would've been shocked if you did," he shot back, breathing heavy after unknowingly holding it.

But Rowan smirked, self-satisfied, and shot a glance downward.

"Don't get _too_ cocky. Not when you're half-hard and I've barely touched you." He looked like he was about to move back in to touch, before hesitating, for a brief moment. 

An idea was forming in his mind—Din could see it.

Kriff, what _had_ he gotten himself into?

Rowan turned to face Corin. 

"You wanna help me out?"

And Din's brain went offline. Every coherent thought died as Corin responded with "Of course," and sauntered over to join them. He didn't have a clue as to where his eyes should go—the purposeful sway of Corin's hips, the increasingly noticeable tent in his pants, or the still incredibly intense look in his bright eyes as he moved closer.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to decide, as Rowan spoke again.

"I'd like to see how you use that mouth on him, now."

And his lover quirked an eyebrow, eyes bouncing back and forth between the other two men. 

"Sounds good to me. Let's move this to the bed."

Corin took Din's wrist and brought it up to his mouth, placing an open-mouthed kiss on the revealed area that sent shivers straight through his body, maintaining heated eye contact with the visor all the while.

_”Shit,”_ he gasped, cock twitching at the feeling of Corin's tongue grazing his skin.

"Didn't know about the wrist," Rowan murmured to himself with interest, as Corin pulled away, and led Din to lay down on the bed.

"He still reacts the same as the first time I did it." Amusement laced his voice, as well as pride at both having discovered Din's weakness and still taking him apart with it so easily.

The other two joined him on the bed, bracketing him on either side with both interested hands and eyes. 

Rowan, ever excitable, immediately descended on his neck, once again—causing his back to arch in surprise—just as Corin lowered his head to begin mouthing at his cock through his pants.

Fuck, they were going to _kill him_.

"You missed me this much, huh?" Rowan murmured close to the helmet's auditory receptor. "Meet me one time after years of radio silence and you immediately want to fuck again. Some things never change."

"A-actually—" Din gasped out before Corin lifted his head and shot a hungry look up.

"Like he said. I asked."

Rowan glanced down and brushed a lock of hair out of Corin's eyes. Din felt a pang of possession darken his thoughts. Those incredible eyes were _his_ to cherish, not Rowan's.

"Then I'm a lucky guy," Rowan said, "to have caught the attention of someone so beautiful."

"Hands off," Din growled and Rowan's head snapped back to him. Rowan quirked a brow and smiled once more. 

"Am I not allowed to look? Admire?"

"You can admire all you want. But don't get too friendly here."

"Din, relax," Corin rubbed his cheek against Din’s bulge in his pants and all of Din's attention went south. "I'm okay with this. Seriously. I wanna have fun tonight." The hot, heavy breaths between his thighs only fanned the flames of desire that threatened to overtake his senses already. _Stars, no one was even unclothed yet and Din was already trembling!_

"Fine," Din conceded after a moment's hesitation and allowed himself to release some tension in his back. Instantly the other two men breathed easier as well. Din hadn't realized that he still harbored such undue resentment until that moment. Rowan was simply trying to please, just as he had always done. He couldn't fault the man for that. And Corin was absolutely one to be admired.

"Let us take care of you, yeah? Just like old times," Rowan added with a brush of his hand down Din's chest. He shivered in the wake of that warmth, buffered between the thin barrier of his shirt. "And let's start by getting all this clothing off. What do you say, _new friend?"_ He shot a glance at Corin who smiled back hungrily.

"Sit up, _cyare."_

Din did as he was told. He gasped as two pairs of hands began to tug at his shirt. Once it was over the helmet and off, a mouth came up to attach to where his collarbone met his chest—presumably Rowan, branching off from where he'd previously been—while Corin kissed along his left hip bone, surely leaving marks in his wake.

It was a lot to process all at once, Din couldn't deny. He was already squirming under their dual ministrations, only paying half-attention to Corin's hands until they began working to open his pants. His heart rate immediately picked up. Of course, he was perfectly fine with being stripped, but this simply felt unbalanced.

Somehow, Din managed the strength to sit up on one elbow, and address the other two men.

"You two as well. Shirts off." He'd even managed to almost sound commanding.

Din hadn't thought very far ahead, however, because this meant he had to deal with the sight of them both _taking their shirts off right in front of him._ His eyes darted back and forth, taking in every detail and faded scar and stretch of lean muscle, while his mouth—not for the first time in his life- desperately wished to be available for him to use.

Stars knew he'd use it, right now.

Corin's body was perfect, to Din—from the top of his head down, there wasn't a part of him Din didn't adore. He deeply appreciated getting to see as much of it as exposed as possible, whenever the opportunity arose. And Corin had grown to like showing off with the praise Din showered upon him.

Rowan was captivating in his own right. His dark skin was nearly as littered in scars, now, as Din's, but that only meant that the pattern of his body was more uniquely his own. The tattoo that Din had long since gotten accustomed to seeing moved as Rowan moved; the Rebel Alliance insignia emblazoned across his pectoral, high near his collarbone. Corin noted the tattoo with a pointed look.

Now that all of them were less confined, this could start moving in the direction they all wanted.

Corin's hands were on his pants once more and the position as well as the movement triggered a memory—not too far in the past, but nowhere near the little village on Sorgan. His lover, smoothly climbing down to his knees and taking him apart with his mouth, in the dim warmth of a cabin. 

It made him tremble to recall. 

And when Rowan eagerly assisted in the task it brought to light several memories as well. These were far deeper in the past, and buried just as deep in the convenient outposts of the Galaxy.

Next, his pants were sliding off his legs, and Din was left simply in his underwear. It wasn't far off from being completely exposed, and he had to steady himself with a few breaths at the sheer vulnerability and intimacy of it. 

His lover's hand ghosted over his abdomen, trailing down to tease at his cock through the dampening fabric, as he raked his eyes down Rowan's body.

"What should we do next? The possibilities are _endless.”_ He punctuated the last word with a sudden squeeze of his hand.

"I remember there was a particular thing he liked me to do, right beneath his—"

"No!" Din interjected, perhaps a little too quickly. Rowan laughed.

"I knew that would get you going!"

"No," Din tried again, attempting to sustain his poor control of the situation. He waved a commanding finger at Rowan although the gesture betrayed his subtly shaking hand. "Not that."

"Hm, if whatever it is has that effect on him, maybe you could teach me instead," Corin said with a suggestive raise of his brows. Din practically whimpered at the thought.

"Maybe, though not right now. Right now," Rowan pressed Din's chest back into the mattress and Din let himself be guided back down. A hand slipped under the waistband to _finally_ release him from the confines of his boxers. "I wanna watch you suck him off. For a bit."

Corin bit his lip and glanced between Din and Rowan. Now that the focus was on him instead of his Mandalorian, that deep-seated insecurity rose back to the surface. Din could tell. 

"If you'd rather not, Corin, I'm sure this one missed me just as much and is dying to show me how—"

"No," Corin interrupted, hunger and determination aglow in his eyes. "I want to. Like the cabin, remember?" _Oh, Din remembered all too well._ His cock twitched in Rowan's loose grasp at the memory and the ex-rebel responded with a few slow teasing strokes that sent delighted fire shooting through Din's veins. Corin observed and made a small, hesitant remark:

"Though I'm still probably not as experienced together as you two are together..."

"Oh, so you calling me a regular old cocksucker now, aren't you?" Rowan countered but silenced Corin before he could backpedal into apologies. "No, stop, quiet now. I took no offense to that. Don't think, just do. I wanna see how you work him."

Corin nodded and licked his lips. Din swallowed hard on the saliva that pooled under his tongue. _Kriff, he wasn't going to last very long if they kept staring so hungrily at him._

It added an extra thrill to know they were being watched as Corin slowly dropped his head and flicked his tongue over the flushed tip of his cock. The quick intake of breath Din heard from the third man had him fighting back the urge to buck his hips into the teasing heat of Corin's mouth.

He thanked tedious months of practice in self-control around Corin for giving him the strength to remain still. A weaker man would've broken, Din was certain.

Corin sunk down, carefully pausing when needed to breathe deeply through his nose. His sharp, brilliant eyes never left Din, not even as they began to water at the corners. He was far too focused on this to care. 

" _Kriff,_ " Din gritted out through his teeth. A hand gently entangled itself through Corin's hair, one that was definitely not his own. 

Before he could process what was happening, Rowan gave a light tug and Corin moaned around him. The Mandalorian's entire body tensed at the pure pleasure that shot through him like adrenaline.

He didn't even have time to process Rowan raggedly saying "Fuck, just like that," when Corin moaned again, and began bobbing his head.

It was too good, just like the first time. Something about this man was _so fucking addictive._ And he was more than ready to let him take everything he had to give.

As he formed a rhythm, slowly gaining confidence in his movements, Rowan's grip tightened in his soft, brown waves, moving to now encourage each lift and descent of Corin's mouth. 

He wasn't quite fucking Corin's face onto Din's cock, but the visual of it slipping past red, spit-slicked lips and of his lover being manhandled like this made it so he might as well have been. 

Every swipe of the ex-Trooper's tongue had his thighs shivering, and only built upon Corin's previous cocky attitude—he'd never been a show-off, but at that moment, he glowed with the pride of the effect he had on both men.

Almost _too_ much of an effect, Din realized with mild panic. He could already feel heat building in his stomach.

_"O-osi'kyrrrr...."_ he hissed behind grit teeth. "Kriff, that's so good."

His hands needed something to do, somewhere to focus on and roam, and with Rowan currently occupied in Corin's hair he decided to turn his attention elsewhere instead. Rowan had yet to be touched much at all. That wouldn't do. And with his pants slung low around his hips and belt teasingly unbuckled, Din saw his opportunity and took it. 

Corin pulled away for a moment to watch, enraptured, as Din's hand reached in and released Rowan's erection. Rowan's grip in his hair tightened with the new contact while his face contorted in pleasure from Din's slow, steady strokes. 

"Oh fuck," Rowan gasped. "Wow, guess I, uh..."

"Still miss this too?" Din asked with a touch of breathless pride in his voice. The fact that he still had this effect on Rowan after all this time...maybe it meant that things could be healed after all.

"Yeah. I missed it a lot."

"While you two get reacquainted I need to go grab something," Corin untangled his hair from between Rowan's fingers and crawled back off the bed. “And get those off him.” He gave Din's thigh a comforting brush as he left and Din couldn't be more thankful for the respite. He had been too close far too fast.

That is, the respite only lasted long enough until Rowan bent down and had _his_ mouth on Din's cock instead. Din lost all sense of time as Rowan tongued and sucked and toyed with his balls with one hand and yanked his boxers down further with the other. Din kicked them from around his ankles on instinct but that only gave Rowan more to work with. He heard the faint jingle of a belt and fabric sliding to the floor. When he finally felt Corin's weight indent the mattress once more he looked down to see what he had gotten.

_Oh._

"I kept him warm for ya," Rowan scooted over as Corin settled back into place between Din's legs. He clicked the bottle cap open and spread some of the liquid across his fingers.

"No no, keep going. I can do this while you stay there." 

"You really know how to choose them, don't you, Mando?" Rowan huffed a laugh that cut sharply into a groan as Din gave a retaliating twist to his cock in response.

"I do."

"Just keep going, Rowan," Corin said. "And Din. _Ner kar'ta._ Spread, now."

Din's face flushed under his helmet at the sweet yet commanding tone of Corin's voice, but he complied. 

Rowan shifted to be more perpendicular to his hip, before shooting Din an all-too-familiar grin and dropping down to take him back in that smug mouth without further delay. He instinctively wanted to press his legs back together, but at the same time, Corin crawled forward to press himself between Din's thighs.

"Is this okay, _cyare?"_ His clean hand lightly teased along Din's inner thigh, tracing a nonexistent pattern as Corin awaited an answer.

"Yes—Corin, _gedet'ye,_ " Din whined. 

The other hand pressed in against his entrance. At the same time, Rowan's mouth bobbed to take him almost fully, with ease: a practiced effort. 

_"Jate, ner kar'ta."_

Rowan didn't understand a word of Mando'a, not to Din's knowledge, at least. But, that didn't stop him from _very much_ enjoying it, judging by the way he moaned his interest flush against Din's hips. His hand jerked on the upstroke in Rowan's lap in reaction, and Corin took the opportunity to press a finger inside.

And— _fuck._

The cooling system in his helmet had to have kicked on, or there was no way he'd have survived. 

He focused on keeping his breathing even as Corin mercifully avoided his prostate—it certainly would have sent him over the edge, far sooner than any of them wanted—and on the movement of his hand on Rowan's cock. Din wasn't necessarily unfamiliar with either of these, by any means—but it was still hard to grasp how easily all of this had come together.

How _Corin_ —seemingly innocent, oblivious Corin—had come up with the idea. And trusted him enough to suggest it.

Another digit slid in when Corin decided he was ready, and Din subconsciously spread his thighs as far as he could manage to coax him into continuing. This time, he pushed in sync with Rowan's clever mouth, deciding to hit his prostate almost completely at random. Every time he'd relax his body, Din would be tossing his head back or arching up from the bed in surprise.

By the time the third entered, his Mandalorian was pressing his hips either down against Corin's hand, as the man whispered praise in Basic and Mando'a, or gave controlled thrusts up into Rowan's mouth. Both men seemed to make a concerted effort to not push him too close to the edge any time soon—but took great pleasure in frustrating the _hell_ out of him.

And that was exactly what Corin was doing, now slowing the pace of his fingers, knowing fully well that Din was _finally_ ready.

"I-I'm ready. Please, _ah,_ I need it."

Rowan's throat rumbled, amused, around his cock, and Corin crooned playfully. 

"Only if you're sure."

He leaned forward to briefly place a chaste kiss on Din's flushed sternum, and pressed his own cock—and when did he open that lube again? Truly, he never ceased to amaze Din—against his entrance. 

"You want me to fuck you while you fuck his mouth, _cyare?"_ Another kiss, this time against one of the more tender marks on his collarbone. "Just let us take care of you, yeah?"

And with a ragged inhale, he was breaching Din and slowly thrusting in.

Din barely had time to adjust before Rowan's mouth descended once more and the dual sensations overwhelmed him. Hands roamed the planes of his chest—whose they belonged to he couldn't tell for certain— the burning pleasure surrounding and filling him was more than enough to process at once. Din heard more than saw Rowan bobbing his head on his cock, the pleasant scratch of his beard raking across his hip as he did so. 

Corin still had yet to move. He stayed still, watching their filthy little tableau unfold, until Din's eyes met his. By now Din knew Corin could catch his eye, feel his gaze even behind the visor that separated them. Corin waited. A subtle nod of silver beskar. _Go ahead._

And then Din was moaning.

Stars, did Corin know how to work him so perfectly. Rowan compensated, moving over on his side to give Corin room to grip, and started anew. The twin feelings of fucking and being fucked all at once was enough to drive Din mad. 

"There you go, _cyar'ika_ , take it like you deserve it," Corin encouraged, his calm words a contrary to his deep slow thrusts. Rowan rumbled an aroused groan and pressed himself down until he gagged and pulled back with a gasp. He flashed a pleased wet smile Din's way that knocked Din back. He looked so young again, so eager to explore and learn and laugh. 

"What?" Rowan asked as he crawled up to settle himself up against Din's chest, one hand replacing his mouth around Din's cock and the other slipping under Din's neck. His voice was rough now from the abuse of his throat but that only further served to rile Din up more.

"Nothing, I..." Din trailed off as Rowan's mouth made contact with his chest, biting down at the muscled curve of his pectoral and following the line with his tongue. Din's whole body tensed then, earning a moaning hiss from Corin as Din clenched tight around him. His chest heaved while Rowan began to worry and lick at his nipple, back arching into the touch, one hand gripping at the sheets while the one closer to Rowan held a vice-like anchor around his forearm.

"Mmh, just like old times, huh," Rowan teased as he exhaled across Din's chest, ignoring the pain. The sensation made Din's breath catch in his throat, both warm and cool as the air ghosted over dry skin and the spit-slick nipple. He shivered. Sensitive, like always.

"Y-yeah," he managed to gasp out as Corin tugged him closer by the hips, pulling him further down the mattress and seated flush around Corin's cock. 

_"Oh shit, Corin."_ His keening sounds were barely above a whisper now. His breath came in short aborted hitches, over and over in time to the tempo of Corin's movements.

"You wanna come?" Rowan asked, picking up speed with his hand. Din wanted the release, craved it, if only to relieve himself from the delicious agony.

"No, don't," Corin batted Rowan's hand away from Din's cock and replaced it with his own. "We can keep this going for far longer."

Longer? Was Corin planning on torturing him all night? 

"Damn." Rowan was clearly impressed. What Corin planned to do next, Din had no idea. One thing was clear, though—he _definitely_ had something in mind. 

Corin gave him a few well-timed, purposeful strokes, and the suddenness and intensity of his ministrations had Din clutching to whatever his frantic hands could grip—which ended up being Rowan's forearm and a handful of soft, white sheets. 

It was a shock to his system to be handled and used like this by Corin. Months ago, when he'd first touched the ex-Trooper in the darkness of the Crest, the man was everything this Corin was not—docile, passive, almost shy. He didn't dare ask for anything Din didn't very clearly offer.

Right now, though? He was taking _everything he wanted._

The deeply buried lucid part of his mind was proud of the growth he'd gotten to witness.

His cock, however, was more concerned with how fucking _close_ he was getting.

" _Ah, fuck,_ Corin, I'm—" Din panted, too dazed to realize that it certainly wouldn't be that easy, before Corin slowed the roll of his hips and hand to an almost grinding halt.

Oh, that was _not_ fair.

And all Corin could offer him was a pleased, wolfish grin, and his dazzling, vibrant eyes crinkled at the corners. Din threw his head back onto the bed with a tormented groan. How could such a beautiful, loving man be so damn _calculating?_

Beside him, Rowan let out a breathless chuckle. From the slight shiver of his voice alone, though, Din could tell just how much he enjoyed what he was seeing.

"Kriff—how about we give him a break, yeah? He might shatter if we keep going like this." 

Corin laughed good-humoredly, nodding in agreement as he absentmindedly ran a gentle brush of fingertips up and down Din's torso. It served to prolong his recovery from everything he'd just endured, but he didn't truly mind—it also was a reminder of the casual concern he felt, and intimacy they shared. His own hand managed to find its way to Corin's, through some force of sheer will.

"Perhaps, yes." He turned his attention to Rowan, now, head tilted in consideration.

"Hmm..." Gnawing on his lower lip, he extended his free hand to wrap around the third man's own flushed cock, firm and leaking against his abs. "We could both fuck you."

And Din's erection gave a not insignificant twitch at the thought alone. 

Rowan was caught off guard by the suggestion—that much was obvious, when Din shifted to gauge his reaction—but he rolled his shoulders and licked his lips. Always ready for a challenge. 

"Oh, I'm up for that." He glanced at Din—and not so subtly down to his cock—before shooting his ever-proud smirk at Corin. "I'm still pretty good at getting him off with my mouth, I think, but whatever magic you just worked on him...I gotta try it."

Din was dizzy trying to wrap his mind around Corin fucking Rowan just as well as what he'd received, when Corin hummed an "Alright, then," and pulled him in for another searing kiss.

Now more familiar with each other and their own rhythms, their bodies moved in tandem—hands explored just a bit further, this time, and Corin _finally_ stripped Rowan of his pants and underwear in one swift tug. He briefly broke them apart to grapple for the bottle that lay nearby and applied liquid to his fingers before they collided once more.

On what Din would've bet was instinct from their time together, Corin immediately latched onto Rowan's neck as he reached behind him.

"Relax for me," he murmured soothingly against the other—now once again wound up—man's throat, pressing a finger in and earning what had to be a full on whimper from Rowan.

"Been a long time since I've been on this end of it," Rowan said through a series of panted breaths. Corin placed a softer, open-mouthed kiss against his jaw before moving lower and taking a love-bite at that unmistakable tattoo. Rowan’s back twitched at the sharp, pleasant sting.

"I'll take good care of you, then."

All the while Din watched from below, slowly but steadily recovering from the whirlwind of sensation that continued to send aftershocks of pleasure sparking through his veins. Rowan was now leaning his whole body weight into Corin, lithe and compliant under nimble fingers that worked him open with ease. His eyes rolled back as Corin brushed their jaws, the light rasp of their facial hair punctuating the silence. Far beyond their lodging, the village was quiet. 

When his pulse no longer pounded in his ears like a mudhorn stampede, Din pushed himself onto his elbows and sat up. He settled in behind Rowan and wrapped his arms around the ex-Rebel's waist. Corin lifted his gaze from his onslaught to Rowan's collarbone and met Din's gaze with a determined ferocity that Din had never seen before. There was fire behind those dark lashes; blue-hot fire that scorched Din to his very soul. Rowan gasped when Din instinctively rutted against his ass in response to Corin's look.

"Whoa, you two trying to kill me here?" he laughed brokenly as he leaned back into Din's grasp, who accepted the invitation and now purposefully pulled him in closer. It had been so long, so many years since he had had Rowan in his arms, and even after all this time he still felt the same. His scars, yes, the aftermath of Jakku and Endor that had been harsh and healing when Din had last touched them...now faded to paler imperfections that alighted like galaxies and comets across the expanse of rich brown skin. Stars, he still used the same cologne, now that he was up close enough for the scent to filter in past the helmet. 

"Not kill," Corin murmured lowly, "Savor. Now turn around and bend over for us."

Rowan complied, allowing Din to press a hand at his back and guide him down to the mattress on hands and knees. 

"You heard him," Din gave a prompting swat Rowan's ass and the man turned himself around so that he now faced Din instead.

“You feel better about yourself now?” He asked with a sardonic raise of his brows. Din laughed.

Corin eyed Rowan appreciatively in this new position, unable to stop himself from running a hand down the ex-rebel’s back. He stopped when he reached the pert curvature of his ass, hesitating for only a brief moment before taking a handful of it. Rowan gasped at the unexpected contact, and Corin smirked. 

Din was always fascinated by the way he could see the gears turning in Corin's head, yet could never pin exactly what he was thinking—if Corin didn't want him to. 

This was likely why he was so surprised when the ex-Trooper spoke, absently shifting clever fingers to run across Rowan's entrance. He posed a simple question to the ex-Rebel:

"Can I use my mouth?"

Surprised might not have been quite the right word. Din was stunned. And so turned on he could hardly _think._ How was he supposed to survive all of this?

And when Rowan groaned out just how much he wanted that, hardly even noticing that he was pushing back against Corin's hand, Din's head began to spin. 

Corin turned to face him, now.

"You're gonna stay right there, and watch. Don't touch yourself."

He might as well have used Din's own flamethrower against him. Anticipation kept his nerves alight, even if he couldn't touch his aching cock, as Corin positioned himself behind Rowan. 

Din's pulse thrummed with energy under his skin when Corin leaned down to place a kiss on the smooth curve of the other man's ass. In a brief moment of self indulgence, he allowed himself to nip the delicate area, there, as well—dragging his teeth across it and sucking until there was _no way_ Rowan's skin wouldn't be littered in marks.

Satisfied with the result, Corin kissed a trail inward, until he was pulling Rowan's cheeks apart, and running the tip of his tongue across his exposed entrance.

_"Fuck!"_

A shuddering breath escaped Rowan's lungs, slightly muffled as the man instinctively buried his face down against the bed. 

Din _nearly_ forgot about his own cock—still pressed against his stomach, leaking even as it remained untouched—but the burning intensity in Corin's eyes as he began working his tongue into the man underneath him had him unable to think of anything else.

But he couldn't touch himself.

All he could do was try to garner friction from the movement of skin against his sensitive shaft as he shifted his weight from one knee to the other.

And he could take in the forms of the two men in front of him. 

Rowan must have lost the strength or concentration to hold himself up, as he'd sunk down to his elbows, ass still in the air. His chest heaved, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible as Corin teased and worked him open. A sheen of sweat coated his back now, and Din could see the muscles ripple under his skin as he tried so hard to remain still.

Another broken whine—or a word in a language Din doesn't recognize—left Rowan, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Gonna fuck you open with his mouth, then my cock. You always did bite off more than you could chew, huh?"

His erection gave another desperate twitch at the suggestion that he'd enter Rowan after Corin used his tongue to break the other man. _Fuck,_ it'd still be wet from mouth as he slid in.

"Bite me, Mando," came the strained reply.

"Hmm, would if I could," Din chided, running appraising knuckles down the side of Rowan's face that wasn't buried in the mattress. "But your backtalk isn't as tolerable as it used to be."

"What, there was a point in time that you li- _liked it?"_ Rowan's sarcastic retort hiked in pitch then died on his lips. Corin must've done _something_ with his tongue to earn the full-body shivers that shook down Rowan's spine. Goosebumps raised in their wake and Rowan gasped and sighed and moaned, pulling at the bedsheets for lack of anything more substantial.

"At one point I might've liked it. And at one point really I hated it. Now? I'm gonna put that smart mouth of yours to work."

Corin came up for breath then, pressing himself up on his arm to catch Din's gaze. A thought was formulating in his beautifully filthy mind, Din could tell. He suspected they were on the same page.

"Can I now?" Din asked, free fingers twitching to handle his cock again. Corin considered it.

"Only long enough for him to get his mouth on it."

"That can be arranged," Rowan got up on an elbow with substantial effort and looked up to meet the dark visor. "Hm. This is a familiar sight. Remember our first night? How bashful you were for me? How vulnerable?"

Din blushed behind the beskar and took his cock in one hand, Rowan's chin in the other. He pressed his thumb between Rowan's lips, who instinctively sucked it into his mouth with a triumphant smirk. "Shut up."

Rowan rolled his eyes, but they flickered down with an all-too-eager look with the length before him. Behind him, Corin was up on his knees too and positioned himself at Rowan's ass. He reached around and grasped Rowan's cock to give it a few slow, encouraging pumps. With his free hand he teased the man's hole with his own cock head, running it so close but waiting for Din to be ready as well. Their eyes met again, and with mutual nods they slid in as one.

Rowan's entire body tensed before he rattled a moan around Din's cock. And _fuck,_ Din was so desperate at this point that it took every remaining sane bone in his body to not let himself go. He'd wait as long as was necessary, even if he already felt like he was losing his mind.

Corin's eyes screwed shut as he bottomed out, and he gnawed at his lower lip in a move Din recognized as him attempting to keep himself quiet. Why he'd force himself to hold back the lovely sounds he made, Din had absolutely no idea, but he certainly wasn't going to stand for it.

"Let me hear you, _cyare._ Tell me how good it feels," he said, focusing his effort on keeping his voice even and on matching up with the slow rhythm the man was establishing. 

Blue eyes shot open, and Din just _knew_ this wouldn't last as long as everything else they'd done. All of them were too sensitive from the teasing, the build up. 

"S-so good. Shit, you're both so fucking _tight._ I get to see you suck him like you need it—ah!—while you take me so well," Corin panted. He couldn't resist the urge to reach around and grab Rowan's cock again, timing each movement of his hand with the press of his own erection against the man's prostate. "Taking us both so well." His free hand squeezed Rowan's hip, using the strength Din knew he held in lean, powerful muscles to push himself in deeper.

At the added stimulation of Corin's hand working his weeping cock, it was all Rowan could do to moan and whimper around Din's cock. Each vibration shot through him, deep in his stomach, to his rapidly beating heart, setting the pace to his pleasure. 

Saliva dripped past the corners of Rowan's mouth, coated Din's cock completely. When his eyes fluttered closed, Din could easily pretend that he was a man he almost wouldn't have recognized. No longer a scrappy teen, picking fights with Paz and trying to impress Davarax, but a young man running from his past. From himself.

One who'd eventually run right into a Snowtrooper on an ice planet. 

And hopefully, he'd stop running, now.

The staccato of muffled groans and vibrations around him, and the steady drone of skin slapping against skin pulled him sharply back into his body. 

Every thrust added fuel to the fire. It was building and spiraling at the same time. Din was panting in earnest now and stabilized himself by spreading his hands wide over Rowan's shoulder blades. Now pressed down with Din's body weight, Rowan craned his neck up in response to compensate and allowing for Din to fuck into his throat unobstructed. While he had mentioned earlier that he hadn't been on the receiving end in a while, he sure as hell still knew how to deepthroat like a champ. Stars, he knew every little counter didn't he? 

A vague thought crossed his mind: how many others had he slept with since their fallout? They had never put language to what their relationship had been, choosing instead to keep it as nebulous as the random chance nights they had had together. They had been friends with benefits, was all he had thought of it. Nothing like what he and Corin had. _Right?_

Din looked up to find Corin leaning in too, bracing his own weight on Rowan's hips with his free hand and his face contorted in pleasure; slack-jawed, brows knitted, remarkable eyes half-lidded and fixated on some far away point. He was consistently floored by how beautiful Corin was; how every feature was so perfectly sculpted, how vivid and keen his mind was, how deep his capacity for selfless love. 

"Fuck, Din I..."

"Yeah? Close?"

Corin nodded as he snapped his mouth shut and bit his lip. Din closed the gap between them and brought his helmet to rest against Corin's sweaty forehead. His breath fogged up the visor but the haze only served to halo Corin in the soft moonlight that shone from the windows. Din reached a hand up to curl into the back of Corin's hair.

"I'm here. We're here. Don't hold anything back for us."

Corin's breath hitched in sharp gasps and his pace stuttered. Rowan whined as the grip on his dick tightened, the vibrations shooting that much more fire through his veins. Din met Corin's eyes once more, alluring blue now blown out almost black with fierce lustful hunger. So beautiful, so good, so perfect...and all for him. Din loved watching every moment.

"You are so beautiful when you come, _cyare."_

The unexpected praise finally broke whatever semblance of control Corin had left over himself. His breath caught in a mute gasp as he froze and rode the waves, spilling hard in Rowan's ass. Rowan's mouth went slack around Din's cock as he followed suit, cock twitching and drooling in Corin's grip. And with a final lurching thrust, Din came too. For a few priceless moments, nothing else existed in the world than their pleasure.

Rowan took it all like a fucking champion. 

That is, until his trembling thighs gave out and he fell stomach-first back to the mattress, taking Corin and Din along with him. The three men collapsed into a tangled mess of sweaty, shivering limbs and simply laid there as their respective aftershocks washed over them. Harsh breathing and the smell of sex permeated the cool night air. All was quiet as the moons of Sorgan shone high above the village.

"Damn." Rowan sighed when he finally caught his breath, voice sounding considerably rougher than before. A string of cum still clung to his beard. Din swiped it away with a finger. "Wow. That was...."

"Insane," Corin suggested in a breathless laugh. 

Turning to shoot him a look of playful, if exhausted contempt, Rowan cocked an eyebrow.

"Like, _good_ insane, right?"

This pulled another laugh out of Corin, who began to sit up, wincing at the onsetting soreness of his overworked muscles. 

"Yeah, definitely," Din confirmed. Rowan surely wouldn't have known, but it was an almost automatic response, after he'd determined that the best way to combat Corin's anxiety was through direct, immediate answers.

The Mandalorian sat up, as well, sharing a glance with Corin, as they both realized Rowan remained a bit dazed. It'd happened to both of them before, at some point, and they certainly knew a bit of care was in order.

"I'll get something to clean up with."

He leaned forward to pull Corin in for a quick _kov'nyn,_ before running a gentle hand down Rowan's pliant thigh and sliding off the bed.

When Din returned with a spare, small bucket of water and a towel from the stack Omera insisted they borrowed, he found that the other two had repositioned—probably at Corin's recommendation—to be more comfortably seated against the pillows.

"That was so good. You did so well for us," Corin purred, cupping Rowan's jaw with a light hand, heavily contrasting the harshness of his touch only minutes earlier. The man aimed to please, though, and Din loved him for it. 

It often drove him insane, but luckily this was not one of those times.

He dipped the cloth in the water, and dragged it across flushed, smooth skin.

At the same time, Corin massaged a hand into the man's shoulder, his neck, running soothing fingers across his collarbone and brushing his fingers across the Rebel insignia tattoo, still murmuring praises. Din didn't pay it too much attention. Not until Corin's hand rested against Rowan's cheek and his lips worked their way up from his jaw, tongue darting out to collect any slowly cooling drops of Din's cum that had escaped.

He couldn't lie—for a brief moment, Din considered if he could get hard again as Corin's mouth slid against Rowan's, eyes falling directly on the visor.

_Fuck._

"Shit, I can still taste you on him," Corin hummed in his direction, before letting his lips linger against the other's for a few more beats, taking any remnant of his lover's release eagerly.

Yeah, he could've sworn his spent cock twitched at that.

Eventually, Rowan and the both of them were clean, and significantly more lucid than before. The energy was calmer; it settled around them like a dusty haze. Tranquil satisfaction descended.

"Well," Rowan started to scoot his way down the mattress despite his reluctance. "it's been fun, boys. Honestly memorable. But I guess now's my cue to leave you two to your peace, huh?"

It was Din who stopped him; he grabbed Rowan's bicep and the man paused. "No, stay."

"We're not gonna kick you out right after all of that," Corin agreed, resting a warm hand on Rowan's shoulder. "Stay the night."

"But you two obviously...well, you got that kid and all—"

"He's safe, I made sure of that." Corin added with a soft squeeze. "He's with our friends."

Rowan glanced back and forth between the two, clearly still on the fence about it.

"You sure? Mando?"

Din nodded.

"Okay then. I can stay, but my ship is all the way over in the town so I should probably leave early in the morning to catch that wagon from the village."

"Sounds good. Now come here," Corin made a gentle tug at Rowan's shoulder and he followed suit. "Din, you too."

The men readjusted and curled up beneath the thick warm blanket; Din bracketed by Rowan at his left side and Corin at his right. Rowan chose to respectfully lay on his back close by with his side pressed against Din's, but Corin wedged his way beneath Din's arm and cuddled in close, resting his head on Din's shoulder. Like this, a warm and satisfied body at each side, Din felt more at peace than he had in months. 

"Good night, Rowan," Din murmured.

"G'night, Mando," was Rowan's quiet reply.

_"Jate ca, ner mesh'la kar'ta."_ Din's only response from Corin was soft snores. He was already fast asleep. Din smiled beneath the helmet and closed his eyes. 

The night frogs of Sorgan croaked and sang until the sun arose.

~


	3. Epilogue

The following morning, Din woke before the other men. Sunlight spilled in from the open window, landing across the bed in streams of white gold. The first thing he noticed was the numbness of both arms. More so his right.

The reason was obvious when he looked down. He blinked the blurriness of sleep out of his eyes, but could instantly identify the shape, feel and scent of Corin wrapped around his torso.

 _Something he'd never tire of, no matter how familiar it became,_ he thought to himself, fondness making his heart jump in the best way.

And, closer but still maintaining some distance on his other arm, was one Rowan Kiindal-Savahou. Sleeping just as soundly as Corin, he looked younger. The sight brought a flash of visceral memories to the forefront of Din's mind.

Din hadn't expected to ever see him again. That was just how his life had always worked—he kept everyone at an arm's length, to make it easier to distance himself once things inevitably went wrong. The galaxy was big enough.

And yet, here they all were. 

He was suddenly curious what the kid would think of Rowan. The child was a good judge of character, every time without fail, and through all his faults, the man had always been good at heart.

Corin woke next, stretching the arm slung around his waist out, and inadvertently brushing his wrist over Din's cock. Yeah, he was definitely still sore from their activities the previous night.

A blue eye sleepily popped open, followed by the next. Din couldn't help but smile in amusement at the flurry of expressions that flitted across Corin's face, ultimately ending with a pink tinge gracing his cheeks. 

"Morning."

"Morning," Corin murmured in response, rolling out from under Din's arm to sit up.

He peered around, first down at Rowan for a brief moment, before raking his eyes over the empty crib on the other side of the room out of habit.

Most likely remembering where the child was, he relaxed, and pulled Din in for a lingering _kov'nyn._

 _"Ner kar'ta,_ this has been amazing."

Din was relieved to hear no trace of doubt or regret in his voice.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself so much, _cyare,"_ he hummed, wrapping a gentle hand around Corin's neck to hold him in the _kov'nyn._

Just as Rowan began to stir from all the movement going on around him, a heavy knock came from the door. A knock they both recognized as none other than Cara.

"Rise and shine, gentlemen! Come get your kid!"

Omera could be heard quietly chastising Cara, but Din couldn't make out the words. He exhaled a laugh and the two finally broke apart. 

Corin chuckled. "I'll get him."

He swung his legs out from under the covers and stood up, shivering a little in the cool morning air. Din watched, following the soft curves of Corin's bare back in the light, the sharp contrast of muscles and the sway of his hips as he moved. He was so wholly enraptured he almost forgot who Corin was about to meet outside.

"Uh, Corin..." Din started. Corin was already halfway to the door. "As much as I appreciate the view, the ladies might not feel the same."

Only then did Corin look down and remember that he was fully naked. The flush on his face brightened and he grabbed for one of the sheets twisted at the foot of the bed and shot Din a sheepish, thankful smile. He reached for the door panel just as he wrapped the sheet around his torso and tucked it in tightly.

"G'morning," he mumbled, squinting in the sudden sunlight that stung his eyes. 

"You two have a good night then?" Cara's lighthearted taunt made Corin snort. Omera smiled and gave Cara a soft smack on the bicep while she shifted the child to her other hip and reached out.

 _"Behave,"_ she chided as she handed the child over to Corin. Corin immediately accepted the swaddled treasure, cuddling him close and brushing his knuckles over the pale wispy down on the top of the child's head. Large almond eyes softened and the child chirped happily.

"Hey, little green bean. You miss me?" 

At that moment Rowan sat up in bed and stretched his arms above his head in a loud yawn. Cara glanced past Corin's shoulder and raised a bemused brow.

"I stand corrected. The _three_ of you. Hey, no judgment," she shrugged.

Something about him caught her eye and Corin's suspicions were confirmed once Rowan settled once more. _The tattoo._

"A pilot?" Cara asked. "Didn't know you went for...pilots."

"Drop Trooper?" Rowan called from his spot in bed. 

"One of the best," Cara shot back. Rowan scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Cara glanced back over at Corin, eyes betraying the slight offense she took to the remark, before looking to Omera for help. But, the other woman only offered her a tilt of her head, and Cara sighed.

She mumbled something to herself, and Corin could only make something out about "strange bedfellows".

"Stranger things have happened," Omera mellowly responded, though Corin could hear the amusement that laced her warm voice. She gave Corin a sunny smile, running a quick hand down the child's ear, before she spoke again, addressing Din, as well.

"We had a great time taking care of the little one. You know you'll always have someone to watch over him in us." Omera took a step as though preparing to depart, before turning to peer back in at Rowan.

"And it was nice meeting you."

Now she offered Corin a quick, polite nod, and gently led Cara away by the bicep. 

"See you around," Cara hollered over her shoulder.

"See ya," Corin yelled. They were leaving soon, themselves, and would likely have time to see Rowan off, but they would certainly be returning to Sorgan sometime in the near future.

Closing the door and walking back over to the bed, Corin turned his attention to the child.

"Did your aunts take good care of you? Were you good for _them?_ Well, you're home, now, _adi'ka,"_ he murmured into the soft skin and fuzz at the top of the kid's head.

All three men were caught off guard by the child's sudden alertness when they came in close proximity with Rowan. Corin's brows furrowed, but the kid didn't seem stressed at all. Once the huge, dark eyes found what they were looking for, the little one let out an interested chirp.

Rowan looked just as confused as Corin, if not more so.

"Is that supposed to be bad?"

He laughed at that, and handed the child over to Din as his Mandalorian stood. 

"I don't think so. Actually, quite the opposite."

The other man was evidently surprised, if a bit pleased, that the little one hadn't reacted negatively to his presence.

And if Corin was being honest, he was able to breathe a little easier knowing the child had gotten a good read on him. They all dressed after that, the only thing filling the tranquil, comfortable silence the sound of soft, loving Mando'a flowing from Din to the kid. The light outside was brighter, now, indicating that it was about the time they should leave if they wanted to send Rowan off properly.

Just as he finished tying his boots on, Rowan glanced between the other two, slightly unsure of if their dynamic would continue in a similar manner to how it'd already worked.

"I have to stop and pick up my things first, then I take off. You're welcome to come with, before I go."

"We'd love to," Corin replied as he buckled on his left pauldron. It had taken him and Din a bit longer to get dressed, and Rowan had watched quietly from the corner of the bed as they put on their armor. Rowan noted the similarities between their armor and finally asked:

"So...how long have you two been married?"

_"Married?!"_

"Oh, we're not—!"

Din and Corin glanced back and forth between each other then back at Rowan, who held up his hands in defense.

"Whoa, okay! Okay, sorry for my assumption, I just thought, since..." he trailed off.

"Since what." Din asked flatly, challenging Rowan to finish his sentence.

"Nothing, nothing." Rowan said, and instead chose to fiddle with some invisible string on his jacket sleeve. Subject now dropped, Din and Corin finished dressing. The quartet left the small lodging and made their way towards the cart that would take them into town.

The ride was quiet save for Corin's soft conversation with the child as they rode along. He pointed out anything he could name, saying the word clearly in both Basic and Mando'a when he could remember: Tree. _Kurshi._ Songbird. _Laar'senar._ Cart. _Curud._ Boots. _Cetare._ Grass. _Vhen'vorpa._ Pond. _Kih'suumpir_ Leaves. _Kursh'vorpane._ Mountain. _Cerar._ Stones. _Choruke._

Din smiled and settled back as he knew the ride to the town would be a slow one. His gloved hand found its resting place on Rowan's knee; the casual touch a nice gesture between the rift that they still haven't discussed. Din didn't even know where to begin, or even how. He suspected Rowan was thinking the same. The men shared a look and Rowan's lips tightened in a sad smile. 

"You still alive, Mando?" The familiar words made Din huff out a laugh.

"Yeah," he nodded and squeezed Rowan's knee. "Still alive."

"Good, that's..." Rowan stared out into the forest and sighed. "That's good."

They were silent. The cart hit a bump in the road and jostled them. 

"Rowan—"

"Yeah. We really kriffed up, didn't we?" Rowan laughed suddenly.

"How so?"

"Just...us. We were stupid and young. Caught up in things beyond our comprehension until it became too much weight to bear, even on beskar shoulders." He nudged Din with his shoulder and Din sighed. 

"Yeah. And trying to find answers where they wouldn't be. Trying to hold on to something that we didn't need."

"You didn't need me?" The question wasn't accusatory. Rowan glanced at him before his eyes slid back to the trees passing them by. Din took in Rowan's face in profile, mapping the familiar but now weathered features of his old companion. Those bright eyes that held equal measure ferocity and kindness, the stately wide nose that he had since lost its juvenile piercing, the full lips that Din knew all too personally despite never having kissed, the healed scar that crossed his cheek and dipped under his handsomely groomed short beard. Even after age and toil had creased his deep bronzed skin, Din still admired him. They had been through too much together not to.

"I—" Din didn't know how to answer that.

"You don't have to respond. You've moved on. I get it. You have him," Rowan nodded his chin at Corin, who was now engaged in some kind of finger counting game with the child. "And he seems like a good one. You gotta keep him."

And Din couldn't lie: he was right. He'd enjoyed much of the time he'd spent with Rowan, but Corin was something else altogether. A warm, truly loving presence in his life when he'd needed him most. So similar to Din in so many ways, but also so incredibly _different._

A beautiful man with the kindest soul he'd ever been lucky enough to bear witness to. No one would _ever_ compare.

Several steady beats of silence passed before Din responded.

"Thank you."

Rowan scoffed lighty.

"For what?"

Din took his eyes off Corin, turning to face the other man again.

"For understanding."

With a thoughtful sigh, he cast his gaze back out at the scenery.

"You've done a lot of growing up since we've seen each other, but so have I. I've seen what holding onto the past like that does to a person." He paused. "I've seen what it does to myself."

Din's hand gave a comforting squeeze to his knee.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Rowan said, and his mouth upturned a fraction. "Don't be. Point is, that's not the man I am anymore. I've found what makes me happy now." Dark eyes met the visor. "And so have you."

And Din didn't know if there was anything else he could add onto that.

Once they'd reached the little inn Rowan had been lodging at they departed and made their way to where he'd informed them his ship would be. Din chuckled at the sight of said ship: a simple, standard ship, not too fast nor too slow.

"What?" Corin asked curiously, not understanding what was so amusing about it.

"Just... not what I was expecting from him."

This is when Rowan joined them, a bag over his shoulder and a genuine smile on his face.

"What happened to the Y-wing?"

"My pilot days are long over. I just want a quiet life now, no more dogfights for glory or big ideals." Rowan shifted the bag to his other side as he unlocked the ship's ramp. It extended with a hiss of hydraulics and the three men stepped back as it softly hit the dirt. "I'm headed back to Chandrila now, checking in with some old friends before retiring completely. Chancellor Mon Mothma herself asked if I could lead the reformed New Republic Gold Squad and I declined. I'm getting too old for that now."

"Not _too_ old," Din remarked. Rowan bowed his head in a quiet laugh. He stepped forward and appraised Din and Corin once more in the mid-morning light. They suited each other. He smiled. 

"One last kiss for the road?" He asked Corin, who glanced at Din for approval. Din nodded and Corin passed the child to him for safe keeping. Rowan stepped in to place a quiet, chaste kiss to Corin's lips. As they parted, Corin made a sound of proud satisfaction. He straightened the lapel of Rowan's jacket and brushed a nonexistent speck of dirt away from the fabric, where he knew the Alliance insignia lay permanently inked into the skin beneath.

"Hmm, maybe Rebels aren't as bad as the Empire propaganda always said it was."

Rowan raised his brows in surprise. "So you really weren't kidding. Strange bedfellows indeed," he shook his head and turned back towards Din before his eyes fell on the curious child. It tilted its head at Rowan and cooed softly.

"So this is it, huh. You have a family, and we both have our own lives to live." He reached out and gently bopped the small green nose with his index and the child giggled happily. Din smiled at the gesture. Rowan clearly understood that they might not be able to fix things between them but he couldn't leave so much unsaid.

"Rowan, I—"

"We had our run, Mando. Some very good times."

"And some bad times too." Din sighed.

Rowan stepped up and rested a comforting hand on Din's pauldron. He searched in the depths of the dark visor for the connection they had once had. Din still saw a glimpse of the past, the pain, flash in Rowan's eyes before disappearing completely. So his guilt hadn't absolved itself either.

"But you know what? We both survived. Came out on the other side and picked up the pieces. And it seems like yours have fallen into place with another. I’m happy for you."

"So...no hard feelings?"

Rowan laughed, loud and bright, and shook his head. "After last night? No. I don't think so."

"I…" Din started, then paused and sighed. There was nothing left to say. "Thank you, Rowan Kiindal-Savahou. For everything."

"And thank you, Din Djarin." He patted the sun-warmed beskar as he finally stepped back. Rowan stood frozen—clearly considering something and debating whether he should say it—before he shook his head. He hiked the bag higher up and squared his shoulders. A final joke lit up his eyes and he chuckled at the thought.

"Guess you finally paid off the RazorCrest, huh?"

"I still never gave you those credits!" Din laughed. Corin smiled at hearing Din so joyfully relieved.

"Don't worry about it. I still don't want them." And with that, Rowan boarded the ramp and ducked inside the small ship.The hatch closed with a hiss.

Din wrapped a hand around Corin's waist, lightly urging the man to lean into him. And he did without hesitation; laying his head against the beskar-covered chest, clutching the child to his own. They stood, supporting each other, and watched as the engines of Rowan's ship roared to life. Corin subconsciously placed a protective hand over the kid's ears to protect him from the noise.

It was a beautiful day on Sorgan, and the way the azure blue sky reflected in Corin's bright, wide eyes did not escape Din's attention.

Yeah. _This_ was where he was meant to be. Getting closure with Rowan had only cemented how true that was, to him. Neither of them were the same men as when they met. Nor were they the men that the other had last seen.

And they'd accepted that.

After a few moments of the ship starting up, it began to rise, hovering off the ground, until it was beyond an arm's reach. Then, higher than one of the huts in the village. It rose until it shrank to a small figure in the clear sky, and after just a brief moment of lingering, took off into hyperspace. The kid gave an excited wave and cooed as it shot off.

Rowan was gone.

If there had been more time, they could have discussed more about everything they'd left unresolved so long ago. But this was certainly a better note to leave things on.

He watched as Corin lifted his head, glanced over at the visor, and gently smiled.

"I've had a lot of fun, and I can tell you feel better. So, how about we go get ready to leave this planet, ourselves, now? I believe we have a long journey ahead of us."

Din pulled them both close again, placing a loving _kov'nyn_ on each of their foreheads—letting the child's tiny claws hold his _buy'ce_ in place—before giving Corin a quick nod.

"Let's go."

Whatever was thrown at them next, they would work through it, and come out on the other side.

The three of them, together.

As an _aliit._

_~FIN~_

**Author's Note:**

> authors' notes:
> 
> ~
> 
> well, a considerable amount of blood, sweat and tears went into this fic from the both of us. this is two completely sleepless nights, now, as well as countless late ones spent writing and working on it. real life bullshit combined with our own inability to put a lid on it results in A LOT more work for ourselves! who knew? i hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed writing, even through the harder times. a special thank you goes out to ladyirina, to the discord & most definitely to the thirsty-ho-club gang, who have reminded us every day of why we do it.
> 
> and to my co-writer, ori'vod, fellow poet and partner in crime, onion~ i'm proud of us. the gif. you know exactly which one.
> 
> -mochaaaa
> 
> The idea of "Din having a Rebel fuckbuddy that he and Corin could have a threesome with" had first been posed to the Mandorin server on the morning of January 29th, 2020. Since then, mocha and I have ruminated on the topic as we were two of the ones who originally posed and created the idea. We've bounced it around between us but hadn't planned for any serious writing to happen until we conceived of the idea for May The Smut Be With You: the mass publication of the then-unpublished collaborative smutfics created in the server's NSFW channel, thirsty-ho-club. This fic is our grand finale, our humble flex on our fellow smutty writers of our ability as rulers of the Penis Poetry Kingdom.
> 
> And I think we did pretty damn well lol
> 
> MTSBWU will continue to be the repository of THC collab fics, but only at their various coauthors' behest. What started as a fun writing activity grew into so much more, a culture of encouragement and friendly banter that has spawned so many wonderful sexy stories. I could never be prouder to be the Queen of such a realm.
> 
> And to my co-writer, vod'ika, fellow poet and partner in crime, mocha...what can I say to truly encapsulate this experience. "Wow" couldn't even _attempt_ to cover it. But it will do. For now.
> 
> ~layeredlikeanonion


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